N43LL

On May 27, 1993, at 1048 mountain daylight time (MDT), a Cessna 152, N43LL, experienced a gear collapse during a hard landing at Cheyenne Airport, Cheyenne, Wyoming. The FAA certificated student pilot was not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The solo cross country flight, which departed Jeffco Airport, Denver, Colorado at 0953 MDT, was in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. The aircraft, which had its ELT activated by the impact, was on a VFR flight plan at the time of the accident.

The student pilot, who had 42 hours total time, said that he was about 300 feet down the runway, and about 40 feet in the air, while attempting to land long in strong variable crosswinds. He said that he hit a strong downdraft, and the aircraft began to descend at an excessive rate. He was unable to arrest the descent rate in time to keep the aircraft from landing hard and bouncing back into the air. The aircraft bounced twice, and on its third contact with the runway, the nose gear collapsed, and the nose of the aircraft impacted the runway. After the nose touched the runway, the aircraft slid off the side of the concrete surface into the dirt.