April 7, Lubbock, Texas / Cessna 172

At 10:13 CDT, a Cessna 172E was damaged during a forced landing after losing power near Lubbock. The pilot was not injured and the passenger suffered only minor injuries. The flight was on an IFR cross country from Ennis, Texas, to Lubbock and was cleared for a straight-in approach to runway 26. Six miles southeast of the airport, the pilot radioed he was going down. During the landing roll in a field, the nose gear collapsed. The pilot told investigators that the engine lost power every time he moved the fuel selector from the BOTH position to the LEFT position. The investigator determined that the pilot never moved the fuel selector fully into the LEFT detent and fuel starvation had occurred even though there was sufficient fuel in the tanks.