N69187

On October 10, 1994, at 1112 central daylight time, a Cessna 152, N69187, registered to Clark Aviation, Inc., experienced a nose gear collapse following a hard landing on runway 03 at the Bloomington Normal Airport, Bloomington, Illinois. The student pilot was not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight was not operating on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated from Bloomington, Illinois, on October 10, 1994, at 1000 cdt.

The accident occurred during the student pilot's first solo flight. The pilot stated he was in the traffic pattern for runway 03 when the tower instructed him that he was number two for landing. He stated he made some adjustments in the pattern and was in "good alignment" for landing. He reported he reduced the engine power to idle just over the end of the runway and started to flare at 55 to 60 knots indicated airspeed. He stated that during the flare the nose of the airplane rose up and the airplane gained 15 to 20 feet in altitude. He reported, "I maintained my control inputs waiting for the plane to settle to the runway. The nose started down a bit too fast so I pulled some back pressure on the elevator to keep the nose wheel from hitting the ground." He stated that at this time the airplane ballooned and veered to the left of the runway. He stated he attempted to put the main gear back on the runway while holding the nose wheel off, but the airplane bounced and came to rest nose down off the left side of the runway.