Primary finding
Probable cause
the student pilot's improper level off.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The student pilot was performing touch-and-go landings. On his fifth landing, he landed hard. The nose wheel came off, the airplane skidded on the fork for about 100 feet, departed the runway onto the grass that parallels the runway, and nosed over on the tail.
Source record
Factual narrative
On April 3, 1997, about 1417 eastern standard time, a Cessna 150G, N2402J, registered to a private owner, crashed while landing near St. Petersburg, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the Title 14 CFR Part 91 local training flight. The student pilot was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The student pilot was performing touch-and-go landings. The pilot said, on his fifth landing, "I flared improperly and landed hard. Nose wheel came off, the plane skidded on the fork for about 100 feet. Plane went off [the] runway, the fork struck in [the grass] and [the] plane slowly tipped over on the tail...." According to the FAA inspector's statement, "[the] pilot/owner admitted making a nose hard landing due to not properly flaring the aircraft on his fifth touch and go landing." The inspector further stated that the airplane had landed on runway 6, the nose wheel separated, and the airplane departed the left side of the runway, onto the grass strip that paralleled the runway, before it nosed over onto the tail. -