N2460ACessna 172R · 2000

The student pilot was on his second solo flight in the airport traffic pattern practicing takeoffs and landings. During his second touch-and-go attempt, as he was landing, the airplane bounced several times, resulting in substantial damage to the underside of the fuselage. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

The student pilot reported that the flight was his first solo cross-country, and the arrival and departure at his first airport was non-eventful. About 8 miles from the second airport, he listened to the airport's automatic weather observation system, which reported that the wind was coming from 020° at 5 knots. He entered the left traffic pattern for runway 34, and while on the downwind leg abeam the end of the runway, he reduced engine power to idle and lowered the wing flaps to 10°. He then turned onto a left base leg and maintained 70 knots, and lowered the wing flaps to 30° on final approach, maintaining an airspeed "between 50 and 54 knots". At the runway numbers he began to pull back on the control wheel to initiate the landing flare. The nose of the airplane then abruptly pitched up and to the left, which he believed felt like a gust of wind. He tried to correct by releasing back pressure on the control wheel, and using rudder and ailerons to move back to the right, but the airplane was still left of the runway centerline. Subsequently, the airplane bounced hard numerous times, the propeller struck the runway, and then departed the runway to the left. During the runway excursion, the nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane skid across a taxiway, eventually stopping in the grass. The fuselage and firewall were substantially damaged.

The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Review of the Pilot's Operating Handbook Indicated that airspeed for a normal landing should have been 60-70 knots with the wing flaps down.