Accident Details
A student pilot was conducting her first solo cross-country flight, planned as a 122 nautical mile VFR round trip with an estimated duration of 1 hour and 40 minutes. The aircraft departed with approximately 19 to 20 gallons of fuel, and the engine's normal cruise fuel burn was about 6 gallons per hour.
Sequence of Events
During the return leg of the flight, the pilot became lost and landed at an airport approximately 20 miles from her intended destination. She subsequently took off again in an attempt to reach her destination. While en route, the engine lost power. The pilot executed a forced landing, during which the airplane skidded along a roadway and struck a utility pole.
The aircraft had been operating for about 3 hours and 15 minutes before the loss of power. At the accident site, no usable fuel was found in the tanks.
Investigation Findings
The investigation documented the fuel quantity at departure, the engine's fuel burn rate, and the total operating time. No usable fuel remained in the aircraft at the accident site.