Primary finding
Probable cause
the student pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing. A factor associated with the accident is the student pilot's misjudged landing flare.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The student pilot was attempting a full stop landing after a series of touch-and-go landings. The student's flight instructor wrote in his report to the NTSB that the student related to him immediately after the accident that he made a full flap approach and failed to flare. The airplane landed hard, bounced, landed hard again, bounced again, and finally landed hard on the nosewheel, collapsing the nose gear.
Source record
Factual narrative
On July 17, 1994, about 1424 central daylight time, a Cessna 150 airplane, N3639V, sustained substantial damage during a full stop landing at the St. Louis Regional Airport, Alton, Illinois. The solo student pilot reported no injury. The local, instructional flight operated without flight plan in visual meteorological conditions. The student's flight instructor wrote in his report to the NTSB that the student had completed a series of touch-and-go landings, and was making a final, full stop, full flap landing. The flight instructor said that the student told him immediately after the accident that he failed to flare, the airplane landed hard, bounced, landed hard again, bounced, and finally landed hard on the nosewheel, collapsing the nose gear. No preimpact mechanical anomaly was reported or discovered during the postaccident inspection. -