What happened
The incident occurred during the landing phase of flight involving a Cessna 172. The pilot, identified as a student with a total flight time of 27 hours (including 5 hours solo in the Cessna 172), attempted to land the aircraft. During this initial approach, the pilot flared too high or too late, resulting in a hard touchdown. The aircraft reacted by porpoising several times across the runway surface.
Recognizing the unstable situation, the pilot initiated a go-around procedure. Following the climb-out and subsequent circuit, the pilot attempted a second landing. During the rollout phase of this second landing, the nose gear structure failed and collapsed.
The investigation
Investigation of the event focused on the mechanical failure of the landing gear and the flight dynamics leading to the incident. The collapse of the nose gear was determined to be a direct result of the excessive loads imposed during the hard landing and porpoising sequence, compounded by the stress of the subsequent landing attempt.
Findings
Contributing factors included the pilot's limited experience in the specific aircraft type and the execution of a hard landing. The student pilot had only 5 hours of solo time logged specifically in the Cessna 172, which may have contributed to the difficulty in managing the flare and touchdown forces effectively.