What happened
On 10 April 2009, a Cessna 152, registration G-GFIA, was conducting a private local flight when it experienced an accident during landing at Manchester (Barton) Airport. After an initially uneventful flight, the aircraft touched down on the grass of Runway 09L. Following the initial contact, the aircraft underwent a significant bounce. During this sequence, the pilot was unable to perform corrective maneuvers, resulting in the nose landing gear striking the runway surface before the main landing gear made contact. This caused the nose gear to collapse, bringing the aircraft to a halt on its nose.
The investigation
The investigation examined the sequence of the landing and the mechanical state of the aircraft. It was established that the aircraft's nose landing gear, propeller, firewall, and left wingtip sustained damage during the impact. There were no injuries to the pilot or the passenger on board.