Primary finding
Probable cause
The student pilot’s improper recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a nose over.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The student pilot reported that while landing on a grass runway in a tailwheel-equipped airplane, the main landing gear encountered a bump, and the airplane bounced into the air. When the airplane settled back onto terrain, the nose pitched down, and the pilot attempted to correct by moving the yoke aft. However, the airplane’s nose continued to pitch down, and the airplane nosed over, coming to rest inverted. As a result, the airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.