What happened
On 28 June 2013, a Cosmik Aviation EV-97 Eurostar, registration G-MPAT, was performing a local private flight from a grass airstrip in Chesham, Buckinghamshire. The weather conditions at the time of the incident were reported as calm and fine.
During the landing roll, the aircraft encountered a surface undulation on the grass runway. This caused the aircraft to become airborne momentarily. In response to the initial bounce, the pilot lowered the pitch attitude, which resulted in the aircraft touching down again. However, the aircraft subsequently bounced two additional times. During this sequence, the nose landing gear collapsed, causing the propeller to make contact with the ground and resulting in the engine stopping.
There were no injuries to the pilot following the event.
The investigation
The investigation examined the sequence of the landing and the physical impact on the aircraft. The examination established that the aircraft sustained damage to both the propeller and the nose landing gear. The pilot, who held a Private Pilot’s Licence and had 1,030 total flying hours, noted that the immediate application of power to perform a go-around following the first bounce would have been the appropriate response to avoid the subsequent bounces and gear collapse.