What happened
On 15 March 2003, a Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk, registration G-BSVV, was engaged in a supervised solo consolidation exercise at Panshanger Aerodrome. The pilot, a student with 43 total flying hours, was performing her third solo flight.
During the fourth touch-and-go of the session, the aircraft experienced a heavy landing. As the pilot attempted the subsequent climb, she noted that the engine power was fluctuating and the rudder felt ineffective. Although the pilot initially identified a field for a forced landing, engine power stabilized, allowing her to attempt a normal approach to Runway 11. After an initial high approach necessitated a go-around, a second approach was commenced. During this phase, an instructor notified the pilot that the nose landing gear may have sustained damage and warned of a potential collapse.
Upon touchdown, the nose landing gear failed, causing the aircraft to collapse backwards. The aircraft came to rest on its engine cowling just off the right side of the runway. The pilot evacuated the aircraft without any injuries, though the aircraft was damaged beyond economic repair.
The investigation
Investigators examined the aircraft and interviewed the instructor, who observed that the initial heavy landing had caused the nose wheel to strike the ground first, resulting in a bounce.
Technical inspections by a maintenance company revealed that the upper mount of the nose landing gear failed during the initial impact. This failure caused the steering cables to be pulled forward, which in turn forced the rudder pedals against the engine firewall, rendering the rudder controls immobile. Additionally, the investigation established that the steering crank on the landing gear leg had made contact with the carburetor mixture controls, which caused the observed engine power fluctuations.