This September 2008 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: None. Location: Brunswick, Ga. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: The student pilot departed from the airport and was performing three supervised solo takeoffs and landings. The first two went well, but on the third the nosewheel hit the runway, damaging the firewall, and the airplane “bounced” several more times. Subsequently, the student pilot landed the airplane on the runway and came to a stop. The student pilot’s CFI witnessed the entire event and stated that, “he did not flare and then oscillated down the runway.”
Probable cause: The student pilot’s improper flare while landing.
For more information: NTSB.gov
Seems to me what to do in the event of a bounced landing was one of the earliest lessons. Students cannot be allowed to learn this from experience.
I agree with the above comments, except “how does a beginning pilot know who is a good instructor and who is not?” Only after many hours of flying, and several near misses can you develop a sense of what you may or may not know, and what you should have been taught.
The FAA should develop better standards of instruction, and student pilots should have an independent instructor fly with them at several mandated inteivals in their development as pilots.
It seems some things never change and poor quality flight instruction still holds the “number one slot” for aircraft accidents in this country. It certainly is valid here! If the student pilot in this article could make two “acceptable” (and that’s debatable) landings, then the third should have been no difficulty. If the student “wheel-borrowed” or “nose-wheel landed” the aircraft, then he wasn’t properly taught in the first place! It’s just that simple! After teaching students for 44+ years you know every mistake that can be made and “head-it-off” before it can happen, through “solid instruction”, which is clear never happen in “the lesson” above!