Accident Details
On 14 May 2022 at 1530Z, a Cessna 172N Skyhawk (registration ZS-PYT) was conducting circuit exercises on Runway 29 at Wonderboom Aerodrome (FAWB), Gauteng province. The flight was a training operation under Part 141, with an instructor and student pilot on board initially. The student pilot, who held a valid Student Pilot Licence, was the pilot flying.
Sequence of Events
After completing four circuits with the instructor, the pilot was dropped off for solo consolidation practice. She successfully completed two solo circuits. On the third and final circuit, she performed downwind checks and maintained approach speed between 65 and 70 knots, within limits per the Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH). On touchdown, when she applied brakes, the nose gear broke off. The aircraft scraped the runway on the oleo strut and struck the propeller several times before stopping. The student pilot was not injured.
Findings
- The POH specifies approach airspeed of 60–70 knots with flaps down.
- Weather at the time: wind 330/03, visibility good, no clouds.
- The aircraft's last maintenance periodic inspection (200 hours) was on 10 May 2022 at 9046.2 tacho hours; 12 hours had been flown since.
- Non-destructive testing (NDT) on the nose wheel fork was performed on 13 December 2019 at 7949.8 total time hours, with the next test due at 10949.8 hours or 13 December 2024. The nose gear had operated 1108.4 hours since that NDT.
- The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the nose gear fork and propeller.
Probable Cause
It is likely that the aircraft was flared too high, which resulted in the aircraft landing hard with the nose gear assembly, which subsequently failed. A contributing factor was lack of experience.