N66547

On September 13, 1997 at 1500 central daylight time (cdt), a Cessna 150M, N66547, registered to Salem Flying Club, Inc., of Salem, Illinois, was substantially damaged when the airplane impacted the terrain following a hard landing at Salem Airport, Salem, Illinois. The instructional flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and no flight plan was on file. The student pilot reported no injuries. The solo flight departed Salem, Illinois at 1445 cdt.

In a written report, the pilot said that the initial landing sequence was normal. While over the approach end of the runway, he leveled off the airplane to bleed off airspeed, at which time the airplane "stalled and dropped in quite hard." The airplane bounced and came down at an angle to the runway, at which time the nose wheel folded under the airframe, damaging the firewall. The airplane then slid to a stop. In a telephone conversation, the pilot said that he was momentarily distracted when over the runway the airplane started to drift, causing his attention to be diverted away from the airspeed.