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WPR10CA263

2010-05-25 · Merced, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport KMER

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing.

Factual narrative

The student pilot was performing his first attempted landing on his second solo flight. He reported that after touchdown, "the airplane bounced an unknown amount of times" until the propeller struck the runway and the nose gear collapsed. The student pilot stated: "as a result of my lack of experience I was unable to recognize an immediate go-around situation." The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the wing spars and firewall. The student pilot was performing his first attempted landing on his second solo flight. He reported that, after touchdown, "the airplane bounced an unknown amount of times" until the propeller struck the runway and the nosegear collapsed. The student pilot stated that "as a result of my lack of experience I was unable to recognize an immediate go-around situation." The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the wing spars and firewall. 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 Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action performance-Student pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2010_WPR10CA263.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers