N9468WPiper PA-28-235 · 1969

The pilot was returning from his third solo cross country flight. He made a stop-and-go and a touch-and-go landing at another airport, then returned to his home base and landed on runway 12. The wind was from 180° at 6 knots with variable gusts. The airplane touched down and bounced. The right wing dropped and the right main landing gear touched down, followed by the nose landing gear. The airplane turned hard to the left but the airplane was too close to the runway edge to turn and remain on the runway so the pilot applied maximum braking and raised the nose to try and slow the airplane down. The airplane went down an 8 to 10 ft embankment at an angle. At the bottom of the embankment the left wing struck the ground and it separated from the fuselage, and the nose landing gear bent aft which bent the engine mounts and buckled the firewall. There were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations.