What happened
On February 25, 2011, a Robin DR400-120, registration F-GCRX, was performing a solo training flight at the Lyon Corbas aerodrome. The student pilot, who was conducting his third solo flight, had previously completed a 15-minute flight with an instructor before departing for circuit training on the unpaved runway 36.
During the third landing attempt, the aircraft made a hard impact with the runway and subsequently bounced. During this bounce, the pilot applied pressure to the elevator control. This sequence of events caused the nose gear to strike the runway with significant force, resulting in its structural failure.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the flight parameters and the pilot's inputs during the landing phase. The student pilot reported that his approach speed on final was stable and that wind conditions did not interfere with the landing. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were CAVOK with a 10-knot wind from 350°, visibility exceeding 10 km, and a temperature of 13 °C.
Investigators reviewed the flight experience of both the student and the instructor. The instructor, who was monitoring the student's landings from the air, had 4,000 total flight hours, including 70 hours on this aircraft type. The student pilot had a total of 17 flight hours, with only 2 hours of solo experience on this type within the previous three months.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the uncontrolled application of elevator input by the student pilot during a landing bounce.
- The nose gear failure was a direct result of the heavy impact following the bounce.