Incident Overview
During her second solo landing, a student pilot encountered a pitch oscillation. The oscillation led to a hard bounce of the aircraft. Instead of executing a go-around, the pilot chose to lower the nose and reflare the airplane. This decision was followed by a series of hard landings, which ultimately resulted in the collapse of the nose landing gear and additional damage to the aircraft.
Incident Details
The event occurred on the student pilot's second solo flight. During the landing attempt, a pitch oscillation developed. The oscillation resulted in a hard bounce, after which the pilot attempted to lower the nose and reflare. This led to a sequence of hard landings. The accumulation of impacts eventually caused the nose landing gear to collapse. The aircraft also sustained additional unspecified damage.
Pilot's Account
The student pilot reported that the aircraft bounced hard on the landing approach. She elected to lower the nose and reflare the plane, rather than performing a go-around. The subsequent hard landings continued until the nose gear gave way.
Training Background
The student pilot stated that she had not received training in bounced landing recovery techniques. However, she noted that her flight instructor had advised her to lower the nose and reflare the airplane if she had flared too high during a landing.