N1FC

On June 20, 2001, at 1530 central daylight time, a Cessna 152 single-engine airplane, N1FC, was substantially damaged during a bounced landing at the Saint John the Baptist Parish Airport, near LaPace, Louisiana. The aircraft was registered to and operated by Air Realdan Inc., of New Orleans, Louisiana. The student pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 solo flight. The flight departed Baton Rouge, Louisiana, approximately 1430, and had a planned destination of Lake Front Airport, New Orleans, Louisiana.

During a telephone interview conducted by the NTSB investigator-in-charge, the student pilot stated that he departed Baton Rouge and was informed by air traffic control (ATC) that his transponder was not working. The student recycled the transponder from ON to OFF, back to ON; however, ATC personnel informed the pilot that they were still not receiving the transponder signal. The Baton Rouge controller told the pilot to contact New Orleans approach control. The New Orleans approach controller informed the pilot that they were not receiving the transponder signal and he was to remain clear of the Class B airspace. The pilot did not want to fly around the Class B airspace because of scattered rain showers along that route, so he elected to land at Saint John the Baptist Parish Airport.

The student pilot indicated that his traffic pattern was "normal;" however, when he flared, the airplane "floated" down the runway and gained some altitude. As the airplane "slowed, and neared a stall," the student pilot applied full power; however, that "did not effect the airplane's airspeed due to the high pitch altitude." The airplane "fell out of the sky approximately 8 feet" and impacted the runway with the main landing gear. The airplane bounced into the air, yawed to the right, and impacted the ground with the left main landing gear and the nose landing gear. The airplane skidded to the left, and the left wing impacted the ground. When the left wing impacted the ground, the airplane yawed left, collapsing the nose landing gear. Subsequently, the airplane came to rest upright on the left side of the runway.

The FAA inspector, who spoke with company maintenance personnel, reported that the firewall and left wing tip sustained damage.