Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
the student pilot's improper flare and improper recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in an inadvertent porpoise and subsequent overload failure of the nose gear.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
On December 21, 1996, at 1016 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 152, N96049, porpoised on landing and collapsed the nose landing gear at the Deer Valley Airport, Phoenix, Arizona. The aircraft was owned and operated by Superstition Air Service of Phoenix, and was engaged in a student solo instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft incurred substantial damage and the student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated from Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona, for a local area instructional flight about 0900 on the day of the accident.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration inspector who responded to the site and interviewed the student, the pilot was on his first solo flight and had completed two landings successfully. On the third approach, the aircraft touched down on the nose wheel and then entered a porpoise. The nose gear then collapsed.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# LAX97LA074