Incident Overview
A student pilot on his first solo cross-country flight experienced a runway incident at Front Royal. During the approach, UNICOM advised that a deer was on the runway. The UNICOM operator suggested buzzing the airport to scare the deer away, but the student only heard that a deer was on the runway.
Sequence of Events
As the student continued his approach, he was informed that the deer had moved off to the left side of the runway. He spotted the deer just before touchdown. Upon landing, the aircraft bounced and came down hard on the nose gear. The nose gear folded back and severed a fuel line. Sparks from the propeller striking the runway ignited the fuel, resulting in a fire.
Post-Accident Actions
The pilot exited the aircraft without turning off the fuel. The aircraft was destroyed in the subsequent fire.