What happened
On 6 April 2000, a Gulfstream AA-5A, registration G-BXCY, was engaged in a solo training flight at Cranfield Airport, Bedfordshire. The student pilot had previously completed a period of circuit and landing instruction with an instructor and had been cleared to perform a solo exercise following a break.
During the flight, the initial takeoff and circuit were completed without incident. On a subsequent approach, the aircraft was positioned correctly on final with full flaps extended. However, during the round-out phase, the pilot reduced engine power more significantly than required. This caused the aircraft to descend rapidly, resulting in a heavy simultaneous impact of both the main and nose landing gear with the runway.
Following the impact, the aircraft bounced, prompting the pilot to apply full power and execute a successful go-around. While the pilot did not immediately detect any structural damage, they did observe that the nose of the aircraft appeared to sit slightly lower than usual. After completing five additional circuits, the aircraft returned to the parking area. During refueling, ground personnel noticed that the nose landing gear and torque tube had been bent backwards.
The investigation
The investigation was based on the aircraft accident report submitted by the pilot. The examination focused on the sequence of the landing and the subsequent discovery of the structural deformation to the nose gear assembly.