The student pilot was making the last landing on his solo cross-country flight. On final approach the airspeed was high, and the airplane floated down the runway. The airplane landed hard and bounced back into the air. After the bounce, he applied power to abort the landing, but the airplane landed hard again, and the nose landing gear collapsed.

The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage firewall.