What happened
The incident involved a student pilot conducting his initial supervised solo flight session. The pilot had successfully completed six touch-and-go landings during the exercise. During the rollout of the sixth landing, the aircraft began to drift toward the right side of the runway. In response, the pilot applied full throttle to initiate a go-around maneuver and simultaneously initiated a left turn. As the aircraft rotated and climbed, the left wingtip made contact with the runway surface. The force of the impact caused the nose gear to collapse, resulting in the airplane nosing over onto its fuselage.
The investigation
Examination of the aircraft revealed damage consistent with the described sequence of events. The left wingtip sustained significant structural damage from striking the pavement during the low-altitude turn. The nose landing gear assembly was compromised due to the excessive downward force applied when the nose dropped after the initial ground contact.
Findings
The primary factor in this incident was the loss of directional control during the go-around phase of flight. The pilot's decision to initiate a left turn immediately after applying full power, while the aircraft was still on or very close to the runway surface, led to an asymmetric lift condition. This caused the left wingtip to strike the ground before sufficient airspeed and altitude could be established to safely clear the runway environment.