Incident Details
A flight instructor and a student pilot were conducting practice takeoffs and landings within the airport traffic pattern. On the third landing, with the student pilot at the controls, the nose wheel struck the runway, causing the airplane to porpoise. The flight instructor then assumed control, landed the aircraft, and taxied off the runway.
Response and Findings
After clearing the runway, the accident airplane received a transmission over the airport's common traffic advisory frequency indicating that the propeller had impacted the runway during the porpoise. The flight instructor reported that no mechanical malfunctions or failures had occurred that would have precluded normal operation.
Damage Assessment
A postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the fuselage and engine firewall. The extent of the damage was consistent with the propeller strike and subsequent forces experienced during the porpoising event.