What happened
On November 3, 2008, a solo student pilot was performing a full-stop landing in a Cessna 152, registration N47221, in Spring, Texas. During the landing sequence, the pilot executed an improper flare, which caused the aircraft to bounce. As the pilot attempted to recover, the aircraft began to porpoise. The third contact with the runway occurred while the aircraft was in a nose-low attitude, resulting in the collapse of the nose landing gear. There were no injuries resulting from the accident, though the aircraft sustained damage to its firewall.
The investigation
The investigation determined that the sequence of events began with an improper flare, leading to a bounced landing and subsequent porpoising motion. The final impact with the runway occurred in a nose-low attitude, which caused the nose gear to collapse.