Cessna 172S N22467 accident near Orangeburg, South Carolina

Probable cause

The student pilot’s improper recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a hard landing.

NTSB analysis

The student pilot reported that he was conducting a solo cross-country flight and during the first landing, the approach was fast, the airplane porpoised twice, and touched down hard. He added power on the second bounce and the airplane began to fly again but was too far down the runway to land. There was an intersecting runway to the right, so he turned slightly and landed on that runway. Once the nose landing gear contacted the runway it collapsed, the airplane veered to the right, and then came to rest off the right side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA21LA180 for the full record.