History of the Flight
The pilot of the Cessna 152, registration G-CCHT, planned a local flight east of Redhill Aerodrome. During the flight, a window latch broke, prompting a diversion to Headcorn for repair. After fixing the latch and planning the return, the pilot checked the Redhill ATIS, which advised of rain showers in the vicinity.
Landing and Accident
On approach to Redhill, the pilot encountered light rain while joining the circuit. Distracted by rain showers and parallel landing traffic on Runway 26L, the pilot flew a short downwind leg and was cleared to land on Runway 26R. The rain grew more intense. The aircraft bounced twice on landing. The pilot attempted a go-around but was too late to prevent the failure of the nose landing gear. The aircraft skidded to a stop, still upright, at the left edge of Runway 26R.
Damage
The nose landing gear failed, and the propeller was damaged. The pilot and the single passenger were not injured.
Pilot's Observations
The pilot considered that the primary causal factor was holding too high an airspeed on final approach, resulting from distractions caused by the rain and the parallel landing traffic. He believed he should have made an earlier decision to go around before landing and waited for the shower to pass before making another approach. He also reflected that it would have been wise to wait longer at Headcorn for the showers to clear before departing for Redhill.