Introduction
On 5 June 2017, a Tecnam P2008 registered as F-HOOT was involved in an incident at Lognes-Emerainville aerodrome. The aircraft, operated by Aéroclub Agile, was conducting a supervised solo flight with a student pilot on board. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
Flight Sequence
The student pilot had completed a 34-minute dual-instruction local flight earlier that day. Her instructor then proposed a supervised solo flight, her second solo. She planned two full-stop circuits on runway 26 (paved).
During the first landing, a ground witness observed the aircraft touch down flat and bounce three times. The student pilot initiated a go-around. The instructor, watching from the ground, contacted the tower to suggest landing on the unpaved runway 26.
On the second landing attempt, the aircraft bounced again. The student pilot performed another go-around. The controller noted during the initial climb that the nose wheel had detached from the landing gear and informed the pilot.
The controller alerted emergency services. The instructor, who had joined the tower, advised the student to continue flying for about 1 hour 30 minutes to burn fuel and land with a lighter aircraft, and provided landing instructions.
During the final landing on the unpaved runway 26, after stabilizing the approach, the student pilot cut the engine on the instructor's advice and landed while keeping the nose up as long as possible. The aircraft pitched forward and came to a stop within a few meters.
Additional Information
The student pilot began training in January 2016. At the time of the incident, she had about 24 flight hours and 78 dual landings. Her first solo flight had occurred a few days earlier.
She reported that during the second landing, just as she was about to flare, she was distracted by a fox on the runway near the touchdown point and feared hitting it. She felt reassured by her instructor's presence during the flight preceding the final landing.
Conclusions
The report noted that during the first circuit, the pilot failed to control her flare. According to the pilot, the distraction caused by the animal during the second landing disrupted her flare. The decision to go around often places the pilot in a more favorable environment for a subsequent landing. Once the technical failure was observed, the instructor provided decision-making assistance, allowing the student to avoid haste and perform the landing with the damaged nose gear under satisfactory safety conditions.
The aerodrome at Lognes does not have a wildlife control service. Even if it did, the presence of small animals or birds should always be anticipated.