What happened
On 2 April 2000, a Piper PA-3ES-112, registration G-BMXL, was engaged in a circuit training session at Wycombe Air Park. The flight was being conducted by an instructor and a student under good weather conditions, with a light surface wind.
During the session, the student had been struggling with the timing of the flare, frequently initiating the maneuver too early in the landing phase. Following instructor feedback regarding the need to delay the flare, the student attempted another approach. However, on this occasion, the airspeed dropped excessively, and the student failed to flare the aircraft before touchdown. This resulted in a hard landing.
Following the impact, the aircraft bounced back into the air. The instructor immediately applied full power to initiate a go-around. Rather than inspecting the aircraft for damage, the instructor elected to attempt another landing. While the subsequent landing attempt was performed normally, the aircraft's unusual attitude upon touchdown indicated that the nose landing gear had been damaged.