Cessna 152 N757ZN accident near Shirley, New York

Probable cause

The student pilot’s improper recovery from a bounced landing.

NTSB analysis

According to the student pilot, the accident flight was her first solo flight. As the airplane approached runway 33 for a third landing, the student pilot maintained an airspeed of 60 knots and was concentrating on "getting the nose in the correct position." When the airplane first touched down, "it bounced" and "the nose went up enough to slow [the airplane] down to put it into a stall." When the airplane landed a second time, the nose landing gear collapsed and the propeller struck the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the engine firewall. The student pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident. During a subsequent examination of wreckage, a Federal Aviation Administration inspector also found no preexisting anomalies with the airplane. The student pilot noted that her total flight experience was approximately 56 hours; all of which were in the same make and model as the accident airplane. The winds reported at the airport about the time of the accident were variable at 6 knots.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA10CA380 for the full record.