CEN12CA277

Factual narrative

The solo student pilot intended to practice takeoffs and landings at a nearby airport. On the first landing, the airplane touched down on the main wheels and bounced. The nose landing gear subsequently impacted the runway, separating the nose wheel and landing gear strut. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall and wing struts. The pilot noted that she had very little practice with straight-in approaches. In addition, she thought that using the traffic pattern to setup for the landing might have prevented the accident. The student pilot's logbook revealed that this was her second solo flight and the first time she traveled to the nearby airport without a flight instructor on-board. She had logged a total of 0.5 hours solo flight time prior to the accident flight. Several flights had been logged between the student pilot's home airport and the nearby airport with a flight instructor on-board. The logbook contained a current solo endorsement and an endorsement for repeated solo flight between the airports involved. The solo student pilot intended to practice takeoffs and landings at a nearby airport. On the first landing, the airplane touched down on the main wheels and bounced. The nose landing gear subsequently impacted the runway, separating the nosewheel and landing gear strut. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall and wing struts. The pilot noted that she had very little practice with straight-in approaches. In addition, she thought that using the traffic pattern to set up for the landing might have prevented the accident. The student pilot's logbook revealed that this was her second solo flight and the first time she traveled to the nearby airport without a flight instructor on board. She had logged a total of 1/2 hour of solo flight time prior to the accident flight. Several flights had been logged between the student pilot's home airport and the nearby airport with a flight instructor on board. The logbook contained a current solo endorsement and an endorsement for repeated solo flights between the airports involved. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
• — Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Total experience-Pilot