Narrative:

I was flying in aircraft X. I was flying VFR without radar services at an altitude of 6;500 feet. At a point approximately 12 miles north of ZZZ my engine quit and I went into a glide. Attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful (switch tanks; adjust mixture and power; activate fuel boost pump). Using the 'nearest' feature on my GPS; I identified the closest airport ZZZ and proceeded direct while maintaining my best glide speed of 90kts. Once established I called a mayday on 121.5 and was quickly handed off to approach that confirmed I was headed to nearest airport and advised cloud bases. After breaking through a narrow cloud layer I established visual contact with ZZZ and when I recognized I would not make the field I scanned the area for an off field landing. ATC asked if I had the highway in sight and suggested this as a landing site. When I was unable to locate an open field large enough for a safe landing I committed to landing on the freeway; on the southbound side going with the flow of traffic. At a point somewhere below 1;000 feet I noted automobile brake lights ahead that were cascading towards me and realized it would now be impossible to land without hitting [likely] large numbers of cars (my 43 foot wingspan was wider than either highway shoulder). I noted the northbound traffic was not as congested and there was a rather large 'gap' in the traffic ahead so I sidestepped over and executed my landing in the shoulder between the guardrail and the oncoming traffic lanes. Cars saw me descending and moved to the right giving me a clear lane and shoulder to land on. I brought the plane to a stop straight ahead and powered off the systems after getting word to ATC plane and pilot ok. With the assistance of arriving highway patrol officers; we pushed the airplane back and turned it sideways to get the left wing out of the traffic lanes so traffic could pass. There was no damage to the plane and no damage to automobiles or other property on the ground. While still at the landing site I was advised by the ZZZ maintenance that he had been contacted by FAA official; and was informed that since there was no damage or injuries; he would not be coming to the site. Also while still at the site; a highway patrol (hp) officer handed me a cell phone where I talked to NTSB; who informed me that since there was no damage or injuries; there would likely be no further NTSB action.with the assistance of hp and numerous other first responders; the aircraft was towed to ZZZ. Before leaving the airport; I documented the fuel gauges showing 5 gallons on the left tank and 10 gallons on the right. Days later we had ZZZ maintenance first test the fuel pump on the right to confirm it was operational and able to generate fuel pressure on the right tank; which it did. We then had [maintenance] drain the left tank; which confirmed the left tank had run dry (not counting unusable fuel) and was therefore the cause for the engine failure. This leaves the question for why the engine did not restart when the fuel lever was switched from the left to the right tank.at this point; following discussion with our [home] base mechanics; we decide to refuel the plane; perform extended engine runs; and if all checked out to fly it back to the [home base] airport to perform further evaluations on the re-start issue with our own mechanics. Before going to the ZZZ; I asked our mechanic if this would be a violation of any kind and he advised that he believed it would not be. I contacted the ZZZ mechanic and advised my intentions and asked that he prepare an invoice as I was on the way over. When all appeared normal I flew from ZZZ to ZZZ1 [home base] and placed the aircraft back in the hangar waiting for an opening in our mechanics hangar. Later this same day I was informed that three inspectors from the FAA were present at [home base] airport (with our mechanics to view the aircraft maintenance logs) when I landed and they had seen my arrival.I had left the airport before they were able to make contact; and they advised my mechanics they would likely initiate an action against me for operating the aircraft without a return to service sign off. At this time; I had still received no personal contact from anyone at the FAA. I received a call late that afternoon from [FAA] and he inquired as to what happened and why did I fly the plane without a return to service. The call was cordial; and I was asked to supply some basic information related to flight experience; certificate copies; etc. And was advised that he would like to schedule a formal interview for some time in the next week or two.regarding the initial issue of the engine out; I had added fuel to the aircraft early the prior week and operated it on a flight for a total of 2.3 hours flight time. I had calculated the fuel to provide enough for the flight where I had planned to pick up some passengers for a sightseeing flight. Because I did not have the weights of these passengers at the time I purposely did not fuel to capacity in order to have flexibility for carrying passengers. Prior to the return flight to [home base]; I calculated the remaining fuel based on time and flow rates from my recent flights; and I determined that I should have between 24 and 34 gallons remaining for the less than 1-hour return flight to [home base]. During the preflight runup I noted the left gauge reading above the 15 gallon mark and the left gauge reading slightly above the 10 gallon mark; which concurred with my estimates. For the fuel exhaustion issue; I believe the root cause was my use of the fuel gauges for determining my refueling amounts; and assuming the gauge was providing a faulty low reading; I did not have the volume of fuel that I believed I had (FYI; when making my fuel calculations based on fill and burn rates; I automatically subtracted 10 gallons from my 'starting point' and calculated from 100 gallons rather than 110 gallons).the secondary cause for this issue was that I was using the aggregate remaining fuel and was not calculating by individual left and right tanks. I was aware that if the fuel exhausted from the operating tank I would still be able to fly from the fuel in the remaining tank.the third cause for this issue was my inability to get the plane to re-start from the right tank and for this we still do not have a conclusive answer. The 'best guess' at this point is that the engine became flooded during the re-start attempts and unable to fire.the second issue for which the FAA has threatened action; flying without getting a return to service sign-off; the only explanation I have is that I was not aware this was a requirement. I suspected it was a possibility which is why I asked my mechanic if this was the case. When he responded that since there was no damage or injury (incident or accident) and no mechanical repairs were made to the airplane; he believed it was not required. Further to this issue; I would have expected that if it were a requirement; the maintenance manager at ZZZ who had towed and drained the fuel tank; should have informed me of this when I arrived to fuel and fly the plane back to [home base.]

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA46 pilot reported a fuel related engine failure; requiring off field landing. Pilot later flew the aircraft to home airport without proper airworthiness documentation.

Narrative: I was flying in Aircraft X. I was flying VFR without radar services at an altitude of 6;500 feet. At a point approximately 12 miles north of ZZZ my engine quit and I went into a glide. Attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful (switch tanks; adjust mixture and power; activate fuel boost pump). Using the 'nearest' feature on my GPS; I identified the closest airport ZZZ and proceeded direct while maintaining my best glide speed of 90kts. Once established I called a mayday on 121.5 and was quickly handed off to Approach that confirmed I was headed to nearest airport and advised cloud bases. After breaking through a narrow cloud layer I established visual contact with ZZZ and when I recognized I would not make the field I scanned the area for an off field landing. ATC asked if I had the highway in sight and suggested this as a landing site. When I was unable to locate an open field large enough for a safe landing I committed to landing on the freeway; on the southbound side going with the flow of traffic. At a point somewhere below 1;000 feet I noted automobile brake lights ahead that were cascading towards me and realized it would now be impossible to land without hitting [likely] large numbers of cars (my 43 foot wingspan was wider than either highway shoulder). I noted the northbound traffic was not as congested and there was a rather large 'gap' in the traffic ahead so I sidestepped over and executed my landing in the shoulder between the guardrail and the oncoming traffic lanes. Cars saw me descending and moved to the right giving me a clear lane and shoulder to land on. I brought the plane to a stop straight ahead and powered off the systems after getting word to ATC plane and pilot ok. With the assistance of arriving Highway Patrol officers; we pushed the airplane back and turned it sideways to get the left wing out of the traffic lanes so traffic could pass. There was no damage to the plane and no damage to automobiles or other property on the ground. While still at the landing site I was advised by the ZZZ maintenance that he had been contacted by FAA official; and was informed that since there was no damage or injuries; he would not be coming to the site. Also while still at the site; a Highway Patrol (HP) officer handed me a cell phone where I talked to NTSB; who informed me that since there was no damage or injuries; there would likely be no further NTSB action.With the assistance of HP and numerous other first responders; the aircraft was towed to ZZZ. Before leaving the airport; I documented the fuel gauges showing 5 gallons on the left tank and 10 gallons on the right. Days later we had ZZZ Maintenance first test the fuel pump on the right to confirm it was operational and able to generate fuel pressure on the right tank; which it did. We then had [maintenance] drain the left tank; which confirmed the left tank had run dry (not counting unusable fuel) and was therefore the cause for the engine failure. This leaves the question for why the engine did not restart when the fuel lever was switched from the left to the right tank.At this point; following discussion with our [home] base mechanics; we decide to refuel the plane; perform extended engine runs; and if all checked out to fly it back to the [home base] airport to perform further evaluations on the re-start issue with our own mechanics. Before going to the ZZZ; I asked our mechanic if this would be a violation of any kind and he advised that he believed it would not be. I contacted the ZZZ Mechanic and advised my intentions and asked that he prepare an invoice as I was on the way over. When all appeared normal I flew from ZZZ to ZZZ1 [Home Base] and placed the aircraft back in the hangar waiting for an opening in our mechanics hangar. Later this same day I was informed that three inspectors from the FAA were present at [Home Base] airport (with our mechanics to view the aircraft maintenance logs) when I landed and they had seen my arrival.I had left the airport before they were able to make contact; and they advised my mechanics they would likely initiate an action against me for operating the aircraft without a return to service sign off. At this time; I had still received no personal contact from anyone at the FAA. I received a call late that afternoon from [FAA] and he inquired as to what happened and why did I fly the plane without a return to service. The call was cordial; and I was asked to supply some basic information related to flight experience; certificate copies; etc. and was advised that he would like to schedule a formal interview for some time in the next week or two.Regarding the initial issue of the engine out; I had added fuel to the aircraft early the prior week and operated it on a flight for a total of 2.3 hours flight time. I had calculated the fuel to provide enough for the flight where I had planned to pick up some passengers for a sightseeing flight. Because I did not have the weights of these passengers at the time I purposely did not fuel to capacity in order to have flexibility for carrying passengers. Prior to the return flight to [Home Base]; I calculated the remaining fuel based on time and flow rates from my recent flights; and I determined that I should have between 24 and 34 gallons remaining for the less than 1-hour return flight to [Home Base]. During the preflight runup I noted the left gauge reading above the 15 gallon mark and the left gauge reading slightly above the 10 gallon mark; which concurred with my estimates. For the fuel exhaustion issue; I believe the root cause was my use of the fuel gauges for determining my refueling amounts; and assuming the gauge was providing a faulty low reading; I did not have the volume of fuel that I believed I had (FYI; when making my fuel calculations based on fill and burn rates; I automatically subtracted 10 gallons from my 'starting point' and calculated from 100 gallons rather than 110 gallons).The secondary cause for this issue was that I was using the aggregate remaining fuel and was not calculating by individual left and right tanks. I was aware that IF the fuel exhausted from the operating tank I would still be able to fly from the fuel in the remaining tank.The third cause for this issue was my inability to get the plane to re-start from the right tank and for this we still do not have a conclusive answer. The 'best guess' at this point is that the engine became flooded during the re-start attempts and unable to fire.The second issue for which the FAA has threatened action; flying without getting a return to service sign-off; the only explanation I have is that I was not aware this was a requirement. I suspected it was a possibility which is why I asked my mechanic if this was the case. When he responded that since there was no damage or injury (incident or accident) and no mechanical repairs were made to the airplane; he believed it was not required. Further to this issue; I would have expected that if it were a requirement; the maintenance manager at ZZZ who had towed and drained the fuel tank; should have informed me of this when I arrived to fuel and fly the plane back to [Home Base.]

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.