Accident Overview
A student pilot was completing a routine solo cross-country flight when the engine lost power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine without success and chose a parking lot for an emergency landing. After touching down, the pilot applied full brakes, but the aircraft did not stop before the end of the parking lot and struck a curb.
Sequence of Events
The flight was returning to Tyndall Air Force Base when the engine power loss occurred. The pilot selected a parking lot as the landing site. Upon landing, full braking was applied, yet the aircraft continued beyond the parking lot boundary and impacted a curb. The impact caused the nose gear to separate from the airframe and the aircraft to come to rest inverted.
Post-Accident Examination
Examination of the aircraft revealed that the nose gear had been torn from the airframe and the aircraft was inverted. No fuel was found in either the left or right fuel tanks. The tanks were not breached. The pilot reported that 38 gallons of fuel were onboard at takeoff. According to performance data for the Cessna 172K, the aircraft consumes approximately 10.90 gallons of fuel per hour. The accident flight had been airborne for a total of 4 hours since the last refueling.