Narrative:

[I] began to experience engine roughness followed quickly by complete loss of power. At the time; the plane had already closed the IFR flight plan with approach and was squawking 1200 inbound to land. The engine lost power at 1;500 feet AGL and +4nm from [the airport] with an 18kt headwind. Given the proximity to the ground and distance to runway the pilot reversed course to put the wind at his back and began searching for a place to land.initially a plowed field beyond the highway was the intended target; but seeing that there was no immediate traffic on the highway the pilot decided to land on [a highway]. The landing proceeded without incident or accident to motorist on the road. Upon inspection of the aircraft the loss of power was caused by fuel starvation due to the fuel selector switch set to the right tank and the previous flight conducted while on only one tank.the chain of events that ultimately ended in a power-off emergency landing on a county highway were set in motion by the complacency of the pilot in command (PIC) and failure to properly use and abide by checklist procedures in the cockpit. The perceived familiarity of the aircraft lead to a level of complacency on the part of the pilot as it was related to the fuel selector switch and checklist flow during preflight.the belief that the selector switch was 'always on both' allowed the checklist item to go unnoticed and the enroute phase of flight conducted with the aid of the autopilot which prevented the pilot from noticing the aircraft flying more and more out of trim while one tank was exhausted. Upon approach to the airport and the disconnecting of the ap system the pilot noticed the trim situation; which was promptly over shadowed as the engine lost power. Ground proximity; aircraft configuration; airspeed the urgency of the situation prevented the pilot from attempting corrective measure that might have restored engine power.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C-182 pilot reported landing on a highway after the engine quit because of fuel starvation.

Narrative: [I] began to experience engine roughness followed quickly by complete loss of power. At the time; the plane had already closed the IFR flight plan with Approach and was squawking 1200 inbound to land. The engine lost power at 1;500 feet AGL and +4nm from [the airport] with an 18kt headwind. Given the proximity to the ground and distance to runway the pilot reversed course to put the wind at his back and began searching for a place to land.Initially a plowed field beyond the highway was the intended target; but seeing that there was no immediate traffic on the highway the pilot decided to land on [a highway]. The landing proceeded without incident or accident to motorist on the road. Upon inspection of the aircraft the loss of power was caused by fuel starvation due to the fuel selector switch set to the right tank and the previous flight conducted while on only one tank.The chain of events that ultimately ended in a power-off emergency landing on a county highway were set in motion by the complacency of the Pilot in Command (PIC) and failure to properly use and abide by checklist procedures in the cockpit. The perceived familiarity of the aircraft lead to a level of complacency on the part of the pilot as it was related to the fuel selector switch and checklist flow during preflight.The belief that the selector switch was 'Always on Both' allowed the checklist item to go unnoticed and the enroute phase of flight conducted with the aid of the autopilot which prevented the pilot from noticing the aircraft flying more and more out of trim while one tank was exhausted. Upon approach to the airport and the disconnecting of the AP system the pilot noticed the trim situation; which was promptly over shadowed as the engine lost power. Ground proximity; aircraft configuration; airspeed the urgency of the situation prevented the pilot from attempting corrective measure that might have restored engine power.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.