Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30; Flight Crew Total 4000; Flight Crew Type 500
Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness; Confusion; Distraction
Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; General Declared Emergency
Procedure; Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors
I was on a ferry flight in my C172 with one fuel stop. Primary Nav was using a Garmin 96 handheld GPS. I have had this unit since 2006 and flown it coast to coast with accuracy no problems. I had been flying in a 5 KT headwind which would leave me with a 30 minute reserve. Weather was CAVU making that reserve ample. The problem on arrival was a heavy snow cover that I did not expect. The snow cover caused the whole area to lose definition that made hundreds of fields look the same. There is a 200 acre lake just south of [enroute stop] that was hidden by the snow cover. The whole situation made me very nervous. I announced 10 [miles] North on CTAF and asked for advisories. I then got a wealth of advice. Several local pilots with good intentions advised me on the best landmarks to use to find [the airport]. They included several white water towers; large buildings and a highway. Instead of trusting my GPS; I followed the advice and quickly became disoriented. In many hours of flying I never experienced anything like this on a CAVU day. My GPS became more confusing with each turn. After 20 minutes of searching I no longer had the reserve to continue. I chose to land while I had power and options. I found a road that had no traffic or power lines. It was also lined up with the wind. The landing was smooth with no damage. By now I was squawking 7700 with pilots relaying to ATC. I gave them my position. Fire and PD arrived quickly and secured the road. [The airport] sent me 6 gallons of 100 LL via one of the pilots. He brought a local high time pilot who volunteered to fly me to [the airport]. The take off went well. The other pilot had not flown in a few days and had to work to find [the airport].... What I learned was to trust my equipment and be leery of well-meaning advice. I finished the flight to [destination] with no problems.
C172 pilot; unable to locate landing airport due to snow cover; ran low on fuel and landed on a road without any damage to aircraft.