Accident Summary
On 13 July 2000 at 1418 hours, a Reims Cessna F172H (registration G-AXBH) experienced a nosewheel collapse while landing at Popham Airfield in Hampshire. The aircraft was on a private flight with one pilot and one passenger on board. No injuries were reported. The aircraft sustained damage including a collapsed nosewheel, bent propeller blades, engine shock loading, and damage to the engine fairing.
Aircraft and Flight Details
The aircraft was a Reims Cessna F172H, manufactured in 1969, powered by one Continental O-300-D piston engine. The pilot held a Private Pilot's Licence and was 51 years old with a total flying experience of 164 hours, of which 59 were on type. His flying in the previous 90 days amounted to 4 hours, and in the last 28 days, 2 hours.
Sequence of Events
The pilot was flying an approach to Runway 26 with the intention of making a touch-and-go landing. He reported selecting 20° flap and establishing an approach speed of 75 mph. As required by airfield procedures, he made an offset approach to avoid buildings at the eastern end of the airfield. Runway 26 has a grass surface and a total length of 941 metres. The pilot assessed the surface wind as 330°/10 to 15 kt.
On landing, the aircraft made a "long low bounce followed by a series of low hops." As he landed, the pilot recalled that touch-and-goes were prohibited on Runway 26 and decided to allow the aircraft to slow for a full stop landing. After each bounce, he considered that the aircraft landed on the main wheels.
Post-landing and Damage
Towards the end of the landing roll, the pilot saw an exit to his right and applied brakes to turn off at that point. As he did so, he was aware of the nosewheel collapsing at an estimated aircraft speed of 20 to 30 mph. The pilot considered that his initial error was in attempting a touch-and-go when he should have been established for a full stop landing; insufficient flap was selected and resulted in a high speed on landing. Then, when the pilot saw the exit, he applied brakes at too high a speed; he subsequently commented that the runway surface was bumpy at the point of brake application and that this may have resulted in the nosewheel making a hard impact with the surface. However, he also commented that there had been previous reports of nosewheel shimmy on this aircraft and that a failure of the nosewheel support assembly may have contributed to the accident. The repair agency subsequently reported that there was no obvious sign of any pre-existing defect with the nosewheel assembly.