Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 96; Flight Crew Total 460; Flight Crew Type 65
Other / Unknown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Aircraft; Human Factors
[Student] is a student pilot that I have been teaching for the last few months. He was working on his private pilot license out of ZZZ. His total time was 29.8 and was ready for his first solo cross country. He had the required endorsements not only for solo and xc; but also night solo. These were given because [Student] showed proficiency and knowledge from previous flight in which I was present in the airplane with him on a dual lesson. The day the incident happen we completed the long cross country flight. [Student] had multiple flights where he went ZZZ1. One time was for his night cross country dual flight that was completed two weeks ago. There were a total of two times that [Student] had been to ZZZ1. During these flight he needed little to no instructor guidance to aviate; navigate and communicate enroute to ZZZ1. After seeing him show me his proficiency I gave him the cross country solo endorsement to ZZZ1. After looking at this navigation log before he went out everything was accurate and correct for the flight to and from.I was under the impression that [Student] would have departed around XA:30. However he did not take off until approx. XB:30. I warned [Student] that it would be dusk or night on his return back to ZZZ. He already had his solo endorsement for night flight. He acknowledged this comment and said that he was prepared to come back at dusk. On his return flight from ZZZ1 it was dusk turning into night. I received a phone call from him in the air indicating to me that he was lost. I instructed him to follow the lost procedures which are the 5 C's. Confess; climb; conserve fuel; communicate and comply. In the communication part of this I told him to dial in [frequency] also known as TRACON so they can give him a squawk code and give him vectors back to ZZZ. At the time I did not know he had been flying around for 35-50 minutes. Then the connection gets lost on the telephone and I call TRACON. They inform me that he is pointed in the right direction towards ZZZ. I am now listening to ZZZ Tower on Live ATC to make sure he gets back safely and I could meet him on the ground at ZZZ. I then hear on the radio that he can no longer make any runway at ZZZ. He does not declare an emergency and makes a thought out decision to land on a road instead of trying to stretch the landing to a runway at ZZZ. I then drove my car to meet him at the airplane to see if he is okay. In all; [Student] made a great execution of a power off landing off airport property and did not damage any person or property. To reiterate [Student] had all the required endorsements and training to conduct a safe flight. Aeronautical decision making and lost procedures training was conducted prior to his first solo flight as well as during his training on the remainder of dual flights.
Departed ZZZ at XA:30 for ZZZ1 on a VFR flight plan. The first leg was uneventful. While at ZZZ1; I exited my aircraft to evaluate my fuel situation. Only after learning my fuel for the night VFR was my planned flight +45 I began my return to ZZZ from ZZZ1 after dusk and was uneventful until the last 20-30 miles. I mistook my position and turned from a North heading to an Eastern heading to fly to a known reporting point for ZZZ. I descended down to 1500 ft. to enter the Class D airspace but could not find the reporting point. I asked ZZZ Tower about my position and was told to Ident. After 'Identing'; the Tower said he could not find me and that he would be able to if I was within 40 miles of the airport. It was at this moment that I became extremely disoriented on my position. Tower instructed me to contact [TRACON] and they could find my position and guide me to ZZZ. After a couple minutes of weak/broken radio calls I was able to enter the transponder code requested by [TRACON]. At that moment; I was against the shoreline and knew ZZZ was either North or South of my current position. [TRACON] responded shortly and told me I was West of ZZZ2 class D airspace and that I needed to proceed southbound. After flying southbound for several minutes I was asked by [TRACON] if I was at a specific altitude. When I told them I was about 1;000 ft. below the specific altitude [TRACON] told me that they had been looking at the wrong aircraft and was unable to locate me. [TRACON] told me to contact [TRACON] as they might be able to help me. I contacted [TRACON] and was told I was above and around ZZZ3 and needed to go Northbound along the shore above flight level 2;500 ft. My lack of situational awareness on time and location led me to believe I would have enough fuel to make it to ZZZ. As I flew along the shoreline I passed several airports but was not confident which airport was which and what their frequencies would be to contact them about landing. After contacting ZZZ at the appropriate distance; I was told to fly Northwest to [highway] and follow it to the North placing me in the pattern to land. ZZZ Tower told me there was a plane in front and I was #2 and cleared to land Runway XL. After observing the #1 aircraft on final I began a right base to final turn. While in the turn my engine sputtered and quit. My response was to push in the throttle; ensure I had a rich mixture; and turn on carburetor heat. My input of pushing in the throttle brought my engine back for a moment only to sputter and quit again. I turned for the closest runway of Runway XR while simultaneously informing the Tower of my engine issue. He asked if I was [requesting priority handling] and in the heat of the situation I cannot remember my response. I set a proper glide and was pointed towards the runway. I evaluated the situation and determined I did not have the altitude to make it to even the edge of Runway XR and I would end up in the tree. I picked an unpopulated road parallel to Runway XR to the south of the field and evaluated the location for obstruction and width to land. At this point I was committed to that road but had to make it over the preceding commercial buildings first. I overflew a row of power lines and set the aircraft down on the road as I would have on Runway XR. I avoided obstructions in and around the road and rolled to the end and then off of the road where it transitioned to grass. Although the engine was dead; I executed the shutdown procedures as I would have normally.
C172 student pilot reported loss of situational awareness that caused fuel starvation and an off airport landing.