What happened
On 3 August 2008, a solo student pilot was conducting a training flight at East Fortune Airfield in East Lothian. While attempting to land the Quik GT450, registered G-CEKG, the aircraft experienced a significant loss of airspeed prior to touchdown. This resulted in the aircraft stalling and striking the runway with excessive force. Following the initial impact, the aircraft bounced before settling heavily onto the runway surface.
During the landing sequence, the pilot had attempted to correct a leftward drift, but the aircraft's descent rate was too high. The impact of the heavy landing caused the nosewheel tyre to burst and led to the structural failure of the nose landing gear, which buckled into the pod. There were no injuries to the pilot following the incident.
The investigation
Investigators examined the circumstances surrounding the landing and the mechanical failure of the landing gear. The investigation focused on the flight parameters during the final approach and the subsequent physical damage to the aircraft's nose section. The analysis confirmed that the aircraft's descent rate and airspeed were insufficient to maintain controlled flight through the landing flare, leading to the high-impact touchdown.