Narrative:

I was the flight instructor for a training mission for a tail wheel endorsement with a private pilot in his vans RV4. Departed ZZZ; transitioned to ZZZ1 for longer wider runways. We had made 4 landings on runway xx; changed to xyr; made one landing with the intention of returning back to ZZZ on departure of xyr. Engine quit about 200-300 AGL (I was in the rear of the plane and could not see the altimeter); I called that I had the aircraft; the private pilot confirmed and I then informed ZZZ1 tower that I was engine out and would be landing on the parking ramp for the passenger terminal; had a significant tailwind and was unable to stop on the ramp; picked up to miss taxiway lights and a drainage ditch; continued across grass to the east ramp. No damage to aircraft or property and no injuries to either of us. After the plane was moved; we determined that there was a piece of something stuck under the o-ring of the right hand tank fuel sump as there were blue streaks under the right wing. Fuel sump still drained fuel at this point when activated and the gauge showed 2-3 gallons. Had the FBO add 10 gallons to that tank; it then showed 16 gallons at rest and 13 after a short taxi. I figure the loss of engine power was fuel starvation due to a leaky sump; and between not watching gauges closely enough even though we had been airborne an hour or less and maybe inaccurate gauges it was not caught in a timely manner. Will certainly be more aggressive on telling lower time pilots to keep an eye on fuel quantities regardless of time flow thus far on the mission.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RV4 pilot and flight instructor reported a loss of engine power and off runway landing due to fuel leak and fuel starvation.

Narrative: I was the flight instructor for a training mission for a tail wheel endorsement with a private pilot in his Vans RV4. Departed ZZZ; transitioned to ZZZ1 for longer wider runways. We had made 4 landings on Runway XX; changed to XYR; made one landing with the intention of returning back to ZZZ on departure of XYR. Engine quit about 200-300 AGL (I was in the rear of the plane and could not see the altimeter); I called that I had the aircraft; the private pilot confirmed and I then informed ZZZ1 Tower that I was engine out and would be landing on the parking ramp for the passenger terminal; had a significant tailwind and was unable to stop on the ramp; picked up to miss taxiway lights and a drainage ditch; continued across grass to the east ramp. No damage to aircraft or property and no injuries to either of us. After the plane was moved; we determined that there was a piece of something stuck under the o-ring of the right hand tank fuel sump as there were blue streaks under the right wing. Fuel sump still drained fuel at this point when activated and the gauge showed 2-3 gallons. Had the FBO add 10 gallons to that tank; it then showed 16 gallons at rest and 13 after a short taxi. I figure the loss of engine power was fuel starvation due to a leaky sump; and between not watching gauges closely enough even though we had been airborne an hour or less and maybe inaccurate gauges it was not caught in a timely manner. Will certainly be more aggressive on telling lower time pilots to keep an eye on fuel quantities regardless of time flow thus far on the mission.

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.