Event WPR12CA049

Factual narrative

The student pilot stated that this was his fourth solo flight and he had accumulated about 2 hours of solo flying. He flew to a nearby airport for touch-and-go landing practice and was planning a standard rectangular pattern. As he approached the airfield, an air traffic control tower operator instructed him to land straight in. This was the student pilot’s first attempt at a straight-in landing and he had difficulty stabilizing the airplane’s flight path before touchdown. The airplane landed hard, bounced, and departed the left side of the runway. The airplane rolled into muddy terrain, bending the nose wheel landing gear mounting structure and the engine firewall. The student pilot stated that this was his fourth solo flight and that he had accumulated about 2 hours of solo flying experience. He flew to a nearby airport for practice touch-and-go landings and takeoffs and was planning a standard rectangular pattern. As he approached the airfield, a tower air traffic controller instructed him to perform a straight-in approach. This was the student pilot’s first attempt at a straight-in landing, and he had difficulty stabilizing the airplane’s flight path before touchdown. The airplane landed hard, bounced, and departed the left side of the runway. The airplane rolled into muddy terrain, bending the nose wheel landing gear mounting structure and the engine firewall. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Incorrect use/operation - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student pilot - C