What happened
The accident occurred while a student pilot was conducting touch-and-go practice landings. The pilot attempted a landing on runway 04 under visual meteorological conditions (VMC). Although the wind was reported from 330 degrees at 12 knots, the touchdown was hard and placed excessive stress directly on the nose gear.
During this impact, the nose gear sheared off completely. The loss of structural support caused the aircraft to nosed over immediately upon contact with the ground.
The investigation
Examination of the wreckage confirmed that the primary failure mode was the collapse of the nose landing gear. The mechanical separation occurred during the high-load event of the hard landing. No other pre-existing mechanical failures were identified as contributing factors to the gear collapse.
Findings
The sequence of events indicates that the hard landing placed forces beyond the design limits of the nose gear assembly. The pilot's technique during the touch-and-go maneuver resulted in a touchdown primarily on the nose gear rather than the main landing gear, leading to structural failure and the subsequent nosed-over attitude.