History of the Flight
The student pilot, who had approximately 17 hours of flying experience all on the Cessna 152, including about one hour as pilot in command, was conducting a solo training flight at Redhill Aerodrome, Surrey. Earlier that day, the student had successfully completed two circuits with an instructor before being cleared for solo flight.
Runway 26 was in use, with a surface wind of 330°/06 kt. The circuit and approach were uneventful. However, during the flare for a touch-and-go landing, the pilot judged the aircraft to be too high. The attitude was maintained, but the aircraft landed heavily and bounced.
The Bounce Sequence
In response to the initial bounce, the pilot decided to convert the touch-and-go into a full-stop landing and kept the control column held in a rearward position. Despite this input, the aircraft continued to bounce. On the third bounce, the nose landing gear collapsed.
Injuries and Damage
The pilot was able to evacuate the aircraft with only minor injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the nose landing gear and a ruptured fuel tank.
Cause Opinion
The student's flying instructor considered that the cause of the accident was the student's maintenance of control column position rather than aircraft attitude after the initial bounce.