Aircraft and Pilot Information
The aircraft involved was a Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk, registration G-BOMO, manufactured in 1981. It was powered by a single Lycoming O-235-L2C piston engine. The flight was a training sortie with a student pilot as the sole occupant. The pilot, aged 60, held a student pilot licence and had accumulated 59 flying hours, of which 55 were on the Tomahawk type. In the previous 90 days, he had flown 24 hours, including 4 hours in the last 28 days.
Flight History
The student pilot was conducting his first 'land away' cross-country navigation exercise. He had reportedly made a good landing at Haverfordwest earlier that day. On returning to Swansea Airport, he performed a standard overhead join into the circuit and initiated an approach to Runway 10.
Accident Sequence
During the landing on Runway 10, the aircraft bounced after touchdown. It touched down again at the intersection with Runway 04-22, but bounced once more. The pilot attempted to apply power to recover, but the aircraft bounced a third time, during which the nose landing gear collapsed. The wind at the time of landing was reported as 130° at 8 knots.
Damage
The accident resulted in damage to the propeller, engine shock-loading, and collapse of the nose landing gear.
Remarks
The student's instructor noted that the pilot had last flown five days prior and had recently completed dual and solo flights in crosswind conditions.