Date: 201707
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Weather elements / visibility: Haze / Smoke; 10
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: Skylark 175
Operator: Personal
Operating under: Part 91
Flight plan: None
Mission: Personal
Flight phase: Final Approach; Initial Approach
Airspace: Class D ZZZ
ATC / advisory: Tower ZZZ
Aircraft component: Engine
Component problem: Failed
Reporter organization: Personal
Reporter function: Single Pilot; Pilot Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Private
Human factors: Situational Awareness
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: [We] performed our preflight with no prevalent issues. We had planned to take fuel that morning so we proceeded to fill the tanks with 7.5 gallons each side of 100LL Avgas to a total of roughly 46 gallons total; 9 of which are unusable. We got a briefing online from ForeFlight mobile; no weather hazards besides a few TFRs to the south of our flight path. Our engine run up went well; magneto checks were good; carburetor check came back positive; and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. All engine gauges were green. Our flight was direct to ZZZ; with a slight maneuver around the mountains to the WNW. We were told by Tower to follow the Galaxy jet on a 10 mile final; and we proceeded on course behind them. About 7 miles out; with carb heat on; descent checklist followed correctly; and RPM/Mixture accounted for; we had a major loss in RPM indicated on the tachometer. Figuring it may be too lean of a mix; coming from 9;500 ft cruising altitude; we enriched our mixture to no avail; the engine continued to lower its performance. At this point; [my passenger] notified the tower that we had an engine failure with a mayday call. I had control of the plane [on this leg] and [my passenger] did callouts on the restart checklist; which yielded some rise in RPMs from 1000 to 2200 when the throttle and starter were engaged for quite a few times. [My passenger] took controls since he is the registered owner of the aircraft and I attempted to restart many times as [my passenger] talked to ATC. The full checklist had been attempted 8 times prior to landing; to no success. About 3 miles out our prop went dead and stopped completely. We fell below the glide path and realized there is no possibility that we land at ZZZ; so [my passenger] chose the field about a mile and a half from the airport and proceeded to land the plane in said field with myself following on controls in case anything were to happen on the landing. We then stopped the plane where it was found upright in the ditch; shut off all systems to secure the aircraft and immediately exited the plane. We removed ourselves to a safe distance in case any hazardous fluids were to escape and cause fire. First responders were there within 20 minutes of the incident. No harm was done to us and the aircraft had minimal damage to the engine cowling. There is a possible fuel leak on the right wing that may have caused fuel starvation.




Synopsis: C175 pilot reported a loss of engine power on final approach led to an off-field landing.