N496AC

On October 30, 2003, at 1435 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172R, N496AC, registered to Air Care Inc., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, nose gear collapsed during an attempted landing on runway 13 at Craven County Airport, New Bern, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated on October 30, 2003, from Rocky Mount-Wilson Regional Airport, Rocky Mount, North Carolina at 1400.

According to the student pilot, the solo cross-country flight was uneventful to the destination airport. The student pilot stated she entered the traffic pattern for a landing on runway 13. The student pilot also stated she began the "landing flare too high". The airplane collided with the runway, bounced, collided with the runway again in a nose down attitude, and began to "porpoise" down the runway.

The student pilot did not report experiencing a mechanical problem with the airplane during the flight or approach to land. Examination of the airplane disclosed that the nose wheel assembly had collapsed and there was structural damage at the nose wheel attach point.