Incident Details
A student pilot on a solo cross-country flight encountered difficulties during the third leg of the journey. The pilot became disoriented but subsequently reoriented. However, before reaching the intended destination, the engine lost power.
Emergency Landing
The pilot initiated an emergency landing. During the landing, the aircraft encountered soft terrain and rolled across a 3-foot-deep ditch, which caused damage to the aircraft.
Fuel Examination
Post-incident examination of the fuel tanks revealed approximately 5 to 6 gallons of fuel in the left tank and about 1 gallon remaining in the right tank. The unusable fuel quantity for each tank was 1 gallon.
Pilot Actions
The student pilot reported that when the engine lost power, he moved the fuel selector to the left tank, then switched to the right tank, and back to the left tank while attempting to restart the engine.