Flight Background
On 29 May 2019, at 11:00 local time, a Cessna F-152, registration EC-DMC, operated by Aeroclub Barcelona-Sabadell, was conducting a local instructional flight from Sabadell Airport (Barcelona). The flight was intended for touch-and-go landings. On board were an instructor and a student pilot. The student's regular instructor held a restriction (FI RESTRICTED SEP) that prevented him from conducting the student's first solo flight, so a senior instructor was scheduled for that purpose.
The senior instructor and the student performed four touch-and-go landings together. After those, the senior instructor disembarked, and the student departed alone to fly a circuit and perform a landing—his first solo flight.
Accident Sequence
During the landing on runway 31, the aircraft made initial contact with the runway on the main landing gear, but it bounced and became airborne again. According to the student pilot's statement, instead of maintaining a slightly nose-high attitude, he lowered the nose and contacted the runway nose-gear first. The aircraft bounced again, and again the student lowered the nose, resulting in a second nose-gear-first contact. The nose gear leg collapsed, the propeller struck the pavement, and the aircraft slid along the runway for several meters before coming to rest on the lower nose section and the tip of the right wing.
Injuries and Damage
The student pilot was uninjured and able to exit the aircraft unaided. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. Inspection revealed damaged propeller blades (bent tips), engine damage, lower engine cowling, broken nose gear leg, fire wall, engine mount, and right wing tip.
Personnel Information
The senior instructor, aged 54, held a Commercial Pilot License (CPL) issued by the Spanish Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) on 20 July 1993, with valid ratings: Single-Engine Piston (SEP) until 31 August 2020, Multi-Engine Piston (MEP) until 28 February 2020, Instrument Rating (IR) until 28 February 2020, and Flight Instructor (FI) rating. The student pilot was undergoing training for a Private Pilot License (PPL) and had accumulated an unspecified number of flight hours.
Aircraft Information
The aircraft was a Cessna F-152, a two-seat, single-engine, high-wing monoplane. It was owned and operated by Aeroclub Barcelona-Sabadell. No information on maintenance or previous discrepancies was provided in the report.
Meteorological Information
The report notes that weather was not a factor; however, no specific meteorological data were provided in the factual information section.
Cause
The investigation determined that the cause of the accident was a piloting error by the student that destabilized the approach by changing the aircraft configuration on very short final.
Probable Cause
According to the investigation, the probable cause was an error in piloting by the student that destabilized the approach by modifying the aircraft configuration on very short final.