Naples, FL, USA
N942AC
Cessna 152
According to the student, he departed his home field in light and variable wind conditions on his fourth solo flight to practice his flight maneuvers. When he returned to the field to conduct landings, the wind had increased, and he was directed to a runway he was not familiar with. His landing flare resulted in a hard touchdown and bounce causing the aircraft to enter a porpoise maneuver that collapsed the nose landing strut. The aircraft departed the runway and sustained damage to the propeller, nose strut mount, and the firewall.
On February 25, 2001, about 0810 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N942AC, registered to Naples Air Center, Inc., operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, sustained a hard landing and excursion off the side of the runway at Naples Municipal Airport, Naples, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured and the aircraft received substantial damage. The flight departed the same airport at about 0720. According to the student pilot, during his landing attempt he flared too high, resulting in a hard touchdown and high bounce. While in the bounce, he lowered the nose, and got into a porpoise that eventually fractured and separated the nose strut. According to an FAA inspector, the student was landing into a 40-degree crosswind of 12 knots, gusting to 15 knots. The flight was the student's fourth solo flight and the first time he had used runway 14. The hard landing and bounce was a condition that the student had not seen before, and the proper corrective action was not performed.
The student's failure to maintain control of the aircraft during landing due to his improper landing flare height and improper recovery from a bounced landing, resulting in a nose landing gear collapse, and excursion off the runway.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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