Accident Overview
On 29 March 2018 at 1100 UTC, a Cessna 152 (registration G-BOLW) was landing on Runway 27 at Beccles Airfield, Suffolk. The aircraft was being flown by a 71-year-old private pilot with 350 hours of flying experience, of which 257 hours were on the Cessna 152. He had flown three hours in the previous 90 days and two hours in the previous 28 days.
Flight History
The pilot had flown from Southend Airport to Beccles. Weather conditions were good with a light crosswind from the left. During the first approach, the pilot considered the aircraft too high and initiated a go-around. On the second approach, the aircraft was still higher than desired, so the pilot steepened the approach by selecting full flaps later than normal. It is probable that this increased the aircraft's rate of descent. The aircraft touched down heavily and bounced, then contacted the runway a second time in a nose-down attitude.
Outcome
The nose landing gear partially collapsed and both propeller blades struck the runway surface. The aircraft came to rest on soft ground to the right of the runway. The pilot turned off the fuel and electrical systems, opened the passenger door, and vacated the aircraft. The pilot reported no injuries.
Contributory Factors
The pilot assessed that he misjudged both approaches and became over-confident on the second attempt, choosing to continue rather than perform another go-around. The late selection of full flaps likely increased the descent rate, but the pilot was unaware of this while flaring. The pilot noted one contributory factor: he had not recently practiced recovering from a bounced landing with an instructor. He had been unable to fly for several months and regained recency with an instructor at Southend, which has a large runway with approach lighting. In hindsight, he considered it would have been beneficial to complete some circuits at an airfield with smaller runways, such as Beccles, while accompanied by an instructor.