Probable cause
The student pilot’s failure to maintain aircraft control following a bounced landing.
NTSB analysis
The student pilot reported that while practicing solo touch-and-go landings in calm wind and on his second approach to landing, the approach was higher and faster than normal, and the airplane bounced “hard.” She continued to attempt to land the airplane rather than perform a go-around and bounced a second time significantly harder. The airplane climbed momentarily, stalled, pitched nose down, and impacted the runway hard. The nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to a stop. The engine firewall and tunnel structure aft of the firewall sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported that due to her “lack of experience” she did not immediately know how to correct the landing.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN22LA056 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Nov 8, 2021
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Madison, Mississippi
- Nearest airport
- Bruce Campbell Fld (MBO)
- Highest injury
- None
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Cessna 172
- N-number
- N5321A
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 2003
- Damage
- Substantial
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.