History of the Flight
On 18 January 2004, a Cessna 172P, registration G-BOJR, was conducting a solo training flight. The student pilot rejoined the circuit and performed an orbit on the final approach to allow a preceding aircraft to vacate the runway. The approach continued without incident until touchdown.
According to the pilot, upon touchdown the nose pitched down suddenly. In his efforts to control the aircraft, it bounced "a couple of times before settling onto the runway." An eyewitness confirmed seeing the aircraft bounce twice after landing before finally touching down on its nosewheel. The pilot reported that he could not steer the aircraft thereafter; it moved to the left side of the runway and came to a halt on the paved surface near the edge. The pilot, uninjured, shut down the aircraft and vacated it using the pilot's door.
Damage
The damage sustained by the aircraft was consistent with a heavy impact on the nosewheel. The nose wheel, nose leg, propeller tips, and aircraft bulkhead were damaged. The damage to the wheel itself was probably caused by a sideways movement at touchdown breaking the tyre's contact with the rim, deflating the tyre and fragmenting the wheel on the runway surface.
Aircraft and Pilot Information
The aircraft was a Cessna 172P (single-engine Lycoming O-320-D2J) manufactured in 1982. The pilot, aged 56, held a student pilot licence and had accumulated 32 hours of flying experience, all on type, with 10 hours in the last 90 days and 3 hours in the last 28 days. There were no passengers on board.