A student pilot and their instructor reported the student turned the fuel selector switch off resulting in engine shutdown and a safe landing in a field.
Synopsis
A student pilot and their instructor reported the student turned the fuel selector switch off resulting in engine shutdown and a safe landing in a field.
Narrative
My student went on a solo cross country to ZZZ yesterday and had to conduct a landing in a field after fuel starvation to the engine. During training; we have always emphasized proper fuel flow management to the engine and when to and how to properly use the fuel selector. This involves properly making sure you select the tanks in the proper position while having the fuel pump on and verifying that you have positive fuel pressure to the engine before switching the fuel pump off. We also conduct emergency landings almost every flight training while even going into scenarios onto where would I go land on a cross country; identifying where I were to go in the event of an engine failure and knowing what to do. I stress the importance of lowing the nose for best glide and identifying a field before troubleshooting the problem if you have time which the student was able to do and safely conduct a landing in a field [with] no damage to the aircraft and having no injury's to himself. As the flight instructor; I will continue to stress the importance of proper fuel management and proper times of switching the tank to a higher degree and continue to teach my students about safety of flight and handling any kind of emergency. Looking at the emergency as a whole; thankfully the student was able to conduct an emergency landing and showed proper pilotage after the accident of switching the tanks to 'off' occurred.
Second reporter narrative
On my solo cross country after departing ZZZ and on my way to ZZZ1; right before climbout at pattern altitude; I turned on the fuel pump to switch tanks. I accidentally moved the fuel selector to off instead of the other tank. The selector didn't have the normal detent to stop it; and the sun was in my eyes; so I didn't notice.The engine gauges looked fine; so I turned the fuel pump off. About 10-20 seconds later; the engine shut down completely. Thanks to my instructor's training and especially the focus on aviate; navigate; communicate; I stayed calm and flew the plane. I pitched for the best glide and squawked XXXX. By then; I was around 700-800 feet AGL so I didn't have time to troubleshoot and had very limited options; so I made the decision to pick a landing spot right away. I landed safely in a field with no damage to the aircraft; and I walked away totally fine.It was a mistake on my part; but solid training helped me stay calm and make the right call for the situation I was in.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.