What happened
The accident occurred during a supervised solo flight consisting of touch-and-go landings. The aircraft was executing its second landing attempt when the pilot encountered a bounce. Instead of initiating a go-around or properly correcting the descent rate, the student pilot failed to recover from the bounced condition. The aircraft subsequently impacted the runway surface with excessive vertical load, resulting in the collapse of the nose gear.
The investigation
Post-acc examination confirmed structural failure of the nose landing gear assembly due to the impact forces generated by the bounce. No mechanical pre-existing defects were identified that would have contributed to the gear failure independent of the pilot's actions.
Findings
The primary factor was the student pilot's inability to execute a proper recovery from a bounced landing. The pilot later stated that the accident could have been avoided had he received specific training on techniques for recovering from bounced landings during his instruction. This highlights a gap in the training curriculum regarding abnormal landing recoveries.
Safety message
Flight instructors should ensure students receive explicit training and practice on how to recognize and recover from bounced landings, particularly during the critical phase of touch-and-go operations.