A C172 pilot reported running out of fuel and landing safely in a field.

Attributes
ACN	1004024
Time
Date	201204
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	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 17 Flight Crew Total 228 Flight Crew Type 228
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

Narrative:

[In cruise flight at 4;500 ft I] heard engine sputter. [I] increased mixture and added power. Engine seemed to have stopped. Contacted [ATC] and informed them I believed I ran out of fuel and would be making an emergency landing and asked what my options were. [ATC] informed me [nearest airport] was 19 miles away and I replied unable. I looked for roads as possible landing locations and all had power lines on one or both sides. Another aircraft offered to come and assist; but they were 30 miles away. I found a field and informed [ATC] that I would be landing in it. I received no reply but heard the other aircraft attempt to make contact with them. I followed appropriate actions to make the soft field landing and once the airplane came to a stop; I radioed over [ATC frequency] that if anyone could hear me; I was okay and abandoning the airplane. I then called my flight instructor.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C172 pilot reported running out of fuel and landing safely in a field.

Narrative: [In cruise flight at 4;500 FT I] heard engine sputter. [I] increased mixture and added power. Engine seemed to have stopped. Contacted [ATC] and informed them I believed I ran out of fuel and would be making an emergency landing and asked what my options were. [ATC] informed me [nearest airport] was 19 miles away and I replied unable. I looked for roads as possible landing locations and all had power lines on one or both sides. Another aircraft offered to come and assist; but they were 30 miles away. I found a field and informed [ATC] that I would be landing in it. I received no reply but heard the other aircraft attempt to make contact with them. I followed appropriate actions to make the soft field landing and once the airplane came to a stop; I radioed over [ATC frequency] that if anyone could hear me; I was okay and abandoning the airplane. I then called my flight instructor.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.