DA20 student pilot experienced an engine failure at 500 ft AGL during approach and landed in a snow-...

Narrative:

I was completing my solo long cross-country. In order to fulfill the requirements I was set up to do a touch and go. I was cruising at 9500 ft MSL. I was approaching runway 30 on a long straight in; descending from 9500 ft to the airport elevation. I had completed the descent checklist; mixture was full rich; fuel pump was on; and I had checked the engine gauges; all indicating proper readings for a safe descent. As I was on short final; approximately 500 ft AGL; my engine started sputtering and finally failed. While it was sputtering I was checking everything: fuel; mixture; fuel pump; throttle; gauges; and tried to change the throttle to see if I could get the engine to run. After it had failed and I was not able to restart it I landed it in a field just short of the runway. The field was covered in snow so the braking system was inoperable. I landed and rolled approximately 1000 ft after which I ended up in a ditch. After I had stopped I turned off the electronics; fuel system and pulled the fuel off. I immediately called my flight instructor and walked to the airport pilot lounge.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DA20 Student Pilot experienced an engine failure at 500 FT AGL during approach and landed in a snow-covered field short of the runway.

Narrative: I was completing my solo long cross-country. In order to fulfill the requirements I was set up to do a touch and go. I was cruising at 9500 FT MSL. I was approaching Runway 30 on a long straight in; descending from 9500 FT to the airport elevation. I had completed the descent checklist; mixture was full rich; fuel pump was on; and I had checked the engine gauges; all indicating proper readings for a safe descent. As I was on short final; approximately 500 FT AGL; my engine started sputtering and finally failed. While it was sputtering I was checking everything: fuel; mixture; fuel pump; throttle; gauges; and tried to change the throttle to see if I could get the engine to run. After it had failed and I was not able to restart it I landed it in a field just short of the runway. The field was covered in snow so the braking system was inoperable. I landed and rolled approximately 1000 FT after which I ended up in a ditch. After I had stopped I turned off the electronics; fuel system and pulled the fuel off. I immediately called my Flight Instructor and walked to the airport pilot lounge.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	864269
Time
Date	200912
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	DA20-C1 Eclipse
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	VFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Reciprocating Engine Assembly
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Student
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 35 Flight Crew Total 35 Flight Crew Type 35
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

DA20 student pilot experienced an engine failure at 500 ft AGL during approach and landed in a snow-covered field short of the runway.