N65770

On February 21, 1999, about 1625 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172P, N65770, registered to Eagle Aviation, Inc., operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, crashed on landing to runway 35 at Pelion Corporate Airport, Pelion, South Carolina. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated about 5 minutes before the accident.

According to the student's CFI, the student and himself had just completed a 1-hour 12-minute dual instructional flight with eight landings, and the accident was the student's second solo touch-and-go landing. The CFI, an eyewitness to the occurrence, stated a right crosswind developed causing the airplane to drift left during flare. The pilot lost directional control and exited the runway off the left side. The runway excursion caused the nose landing gear to collapse and the propeller to strike the ground.

According to the student, his second solo landing resulted in a bounced landing, and as he added power for takeoff, the nose wheel shimmied violently. He then slightly rotated to take the weight off the nosewheel, as instructed, and drifted off the left side of the runway. The airplane encountered a crossing taxiway and collapsed the nose landing gear.

According to the FAA inspector, subsequent examination of the aircraft revealed that the nose landing gear folded back against the belly of the airplane damaging the firewall. The nosewheel and fork assembly broke from the strut assembly, and was laying next to the airplane. There was no report of any malfunction of the landing gear, steering, or braking systems.