The solo student pilot reported that, during approach, he was struggling to keep the airplane at 60 to 70 knots of airspeed, so he entered a side slip and reduced the power to idle. Once assured he would make the runway, he aligned the airplane with the runway, the airplane landed on the left main landing gear, bounced, and the student performed a go around. He entered the left traffic pattern and landed without further incident.

Postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the firewall and fuselage.

The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

The automated weather observation station located on the airport reported that, about 6 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 270° at 6 knots. The airplane landed on runway 33.