What happened
The incident occurred while a student pilot was conducting practice touch-and-go landings on runway 13. Environmental conditions included a reported wind from 180 degrees at 15 knots. During one of the landing attempts, the pilot flared too high, causing the aircraft to bounce upon initial contact with the runway.
In response to the bounce, power was applied to initiate a go-around maneuver. However, the aircraft began to porpoise, oscillating vertically as it touched down again. On the third touchdown, the nose gear failed structurally. The force of the impact caused the engine mount to puncture the firewall.
The investigation
The primary mechanical failure identified was the collapse or failure of the nose landing gear. This failure directly resulted in the engine mount penetrating the firewall, indicating a significant structural compromise to the forward fuselage and engine attachment points due to the excessive vertical loads during the porpoising sequence.