20130822016869A

N740SP received substantial damage during an approach and attempted landing at Manassas airport (hef) on Thursday August 22, 2013 at approximately 0928 local time. The aircraft landed in a 3-point landing with what was described as "excessive speed" by a witness. The aircraft landed in the first third of the runway but began a porpoising motion that became uncontrollable for the student pilot. Instead of attempting to "go-around," the pilot said that he became fixated on the deteriorating situation and instead tried to fix the oscillations. On approximately the third oscillation, the nose gear hit with enough force to cause the nose gear to be torn from the strut. The aircraft continued down the runway scraping the remains of the nose gear strut and veering of to the right hand side of the runway (16R). For the first 54 feet of runway gouging, there were associated signs of repeated prop strikes. There was another 243 feet of gouges in the runway without evidence of prop strike until the aircraft reached the grass. At the point where the aircraft entered the grass, the remains of the nose strut dug into the turf causing a forward movement, which in turn caused the aircraft spinner to dig further into the turf. The remaining inertia of the aircraft flipped the aircraft over in to an inverted position. The pilot was able to free himself without aid. Flight school personnel who witnessed the accident helped secure the engine. Emergency personnel were on scene when the FAA arrived.