Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25; Flight Crew Total 420; Flight Crew Type 340
Confusion; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; General Police / Security Involved
Human Factors
This was a [long] cross country flight [with] an overnight stay planned [near the midpoint] at airport ZZZ. I was PIC flying right seat and my brother; a post solo student pilot; was at the controls in the left seat. About 3.5 hours into the flight and approximately 30 miles short of a planned fuel stop at airport ZZZ1; the engine lost power and did not restart on subsequent attempts. With the help of my co-pilot brother; we identified and then I landed on a gravel road. The airplane was not damaged and both occupants uninjured. Inspection of the fuel tanks revealed no fuel. Cell phone calls to the County Sherriff's office resulted in a deputy bringing auto gas (plane has STC for 87 unleaded) and we fueled the plane and made it safely to ZZZ1. We stayed overnight and proceeded to our final destination the next day without further incident. Cause of error was my failure during preflight to question the dipstick readings which indicated less fuel than I normally expected after a 'top off'. I have learned a hard lesson rather cheaply and I will never again let 'get there itis' override sound judgement. I hope this could be a valuable cautionary tale for others as I thought something like this could only happen to other pilots. I owe a debt of gratitude to my commercial flight instructor for helping me to develop the skills that saved our lives. Another deserving of mention was an aviation mechanic who went over the aircraft and enhanced the safety of our continuation.
A general aviation pilot reported having to make a forced landing on a public road; due to fuel starvation resulting from inadequate preflight planning. No injuries or aircraft damage was reported.