Incident Overview
A student pilot was conducting his third solo flight, with the intention of performing several touch-and-go landings. The pilot reported that he had completed five series of landings without any issues. On the sixth landing, after the main wheels made contact with the runway, the airplane began to veer to the left.
Loss of Directional Control
The student pilot was unable to correct the deviation, and the airplane departed the hard surface runway. When the nose gear encountered soft terrain adjacent to the runway, it dug in and was subsequently torn from the aircraft.
Wind Conditions
The pilot noted that at the time of the accident, the wind was out of the southeast and gusting. However, the wind conditions were within the crosswind limit that he and his flight instructor had established prior to the flight.
Aircraft Damage
The only reported damage was the separation of the nose gear from the airplane after it contacted the soft ground. No other damage was specified in the report.