STATUS: Review Complete
The aircraft had recently undergone a large amount of refurbishment work. O...
STATUS: Review Complete
The aircraft had recently undergone a large amount of refurbishment work. On the day of the Incident, the pilot had been flown in to bring the plane back to base. After spending some time going over the aircraft the pilot ensured there was enough fuel onboard for the flight. After a long ground run time checking Temps and Press all were normal. (There had been work on the engine including new fuel pump and rubber kit). After taking off the pilot remained over the departure airport for a few minutes, and all was good. The pilot then tracked for their destination. An hour into the flight the engine started to run rough. There was plenty of open farmland below and the pilot selected a paddock and conducted a forced landing without incident.
While waiting for the ground crew and trailer the pilot looked for the cause but found nothing. Fuel tanks were checked and found the left was empty and the right had 20 litres. It was when they were loading the aircraft onto the trailer that as the right wing was folded a pinched fuel line was found that may have happened when the wing was being closed for flight. The pinched fuel line was replaced and no further defects were discovered.