Incident Overview
A student pilot on his first solo cross-country flight experienced a hard landing that led to a sequence of events culminating in the collapse of the nose landing gear. The incident occurred on runway 16, which measures 7,000 feet in length and 150 feet in width.
Sequence of Events
According to the pilot, who had accumulated 43 flight hours, he misjudged the airplane's height above the runway during the landing approach. The aircraft stalled and dropped in from an estimated height of 10 feet. Following the initial hard touchdown, the airplane bounced and began to porpoise. After the second bounce, the nose landing gear collapsed.
Post-Impact Actions
Despite the collapsed gear, the pilot attempted to taxi the airplane off the active runway. He was able to egress from the aircraft unassisted and was uninjured.
Damage Assessment
An on-scene Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector documented damage to the engine firewall, which sustained structural deformation. The impact also fractured the nose gear assembly and buckled the engine firewall.
Weather Conditions
At the time of the accident, the airport's weather observation station reported wind from 170 degrees at 4 knots.