At about 1500 Pacific time, the airplane nosed over during a forced landing. The student pilot received serious injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage to its tail section. Visual conditions prevailed.
On the solo cross-country flight’s last leg, the pilot began to smell an odd odor and lost radio contact. Shortly, the instrument panel was smoking. The pilot initiated a fast descent from 10,500 feet msl, located a road and set up for a landing. The road was narrow and power lines were present. After the airplane touched down, it veered left and off the road, where it nosed over and came to rest inverted.
