Following an instructional pattern flight of about 2 hours, the solo student pilot took off and remained in the traffic pattern. During the first landing touchdown, the student pilot reported that he landed in a flat pitch attitude and the nose wheel tire blew. Subsequently, the airplane started to porpoise and the propeller struck the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the firewall.

The student pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.