What happened
The incident occurred while a student pilot was engaged in supervised solo flight operations. During the landing phase of one such flight, the pilot inadvertently allowed the aircraft's propeller to make contact with the runway surface. Following this impact, the airplane was taxied away from the active runway area and secured at the ramp.
According to the flight instructor who was supervising these solo flights, the aircraft exhibited unusual behavior during the approach. The instructor observed that the pilot flared the airplane too high above the runway threshold. This excessive altitude caused the aircraft to begin porpoising, a oscillating motion where the plane repeatedly rises and falls toward the runway surface, ultimately leading to the propeller strike.
The investigation
The flight instructor provided a firsthand account of the landing sequence. His observations focused on the pilot's control inputs during the final approach and flare. The instructor noted that the high flare was the precursor to the porpoising motion that resulted in the ground contact.