What happened
On May 27, 2005, a Cessna 1s2, registration I-PORR, was performing a recreational flight when it experienced a heavy landing at the Urbe airport in Rome. As the aircraft approached the runway, the pilot encountered a wind gust that caused the aircraft to maintain an excessively pitched-up attitude. In an instinctive attempt to correct the flight path, the pilot pushed the nose down, resulting in the aircraft striking the runway hard on its nose gear.
Despite the impact, the pilot was able to taxi the aircraft to the parking area and notify maintenance personnel of the incident. The landing resulted in no injuries to the pilot, but the aircraft sustained significant damage, including a broken nose wheel rim and structural deformations to the engine mount tubulars.
The investigation
The ANSV investigation focused on the mechanical impact and the pilot's corrective actions. Post-incident inspections revealed that the engine mount structure had been deformed, necessitating the removal of the engine and the replacement of the mount with a component from another aircraft. The investigation also required a thorough inspection of the nose gear assembly, including dye penetrant testing of the fork and shock absorber strut, and the replacement of all rubber seals and hydraulic fluid.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the violent nose-down impact during the landing phase, which occurred as a result of an improper maneuver to correct an excessively pitched-up attitude.
- A contributing factor was the pilot's limited flight experience, which led to difficulty managing the aircraft's attitude during the wind gust.