What happened
On January 19, 2014, a Cessna 172F, registration TG-KAI, was conducting a private flight to transport two passengers to the department of Retalhuleu, Guatemala. The flight originated from Guatemala City, with the pilot establishing communications with La Aurora, San José, and Retalhuleu control towers. Weather conditions at the time of the occurrence were favorable, characterized by calm winds and unlimited visibility.
As the aircraft approached runway 22 at the Retalhuleu aerodrome, the pilot performed an improper landing. The aircraft failed to maintain the correct flight path, resulting in a hard impact where the nose gear struck the runway first. This impact caused the nose tire to lose pressure and led to the structural failure of the nose gear struts and supports. The force of the impact caused the aircraft to bounce back into the air. Following this initial contact, the pilot performed a second approach and landed again, with the aircraft already suffering the aforementioned structural damage.