What happened
During a night cross-country flight, the pilot did not realize the aircraft had drifted off course until the estimated time of arrival passed and the destination airport was no longer visible. The flight continued for an additional 45 minutes before the pilot spotted an airport.
Upon recognizing that fuel levels were low, the pilot turned the aircraft toward the airport. During this period, one fuel tank reached fuel exhaustion. Although the pilot switched to the remaining fuel tank, the second tank also became exhausted while the aircraft was on final approach. This caused the engine to lose power. Unable to reach the runway, the pilot attempted to land the aircraft, which resulted in a collision with the terrain.