20170211007289I

On February 11, 2017 at approximately 1345 central standard time, a student pilot was involved in an incident while taxiing a Cessna 172M at the Emporia municipal airport (kemp) in Emporia, Kansas; the aircraft is owned and operated by a local flying club pursuant to the provisions of title 14 code of federal regulations part 61. Pursuant to the pilot?s verbal account of the incident, the pilot was on a solo training flight practicing touch and goes on runway 1. Upon touchdown, the pilot noticed a ?shudder? From the nose wheel. The pilot then applied backpressure to the controls and the shudder began to decrease. The pilot has a background in auto mechanics and believed the problem to be a flat or low nose tire. After the landing rollout, the pilot heard another aircraft on the radio approaching from the south and believed it was the best course of action to taxi clear of the runway, onto the grass adjacent to the right side of the runway, in the event the aircraft became disabled.

The pilot taxied the aircraft ?slowly? Through the grass but as the nose strut compressed, the prop struck the ground in a water drainage area. The pilot immediately stopped the engine and had the aircraft towed back to the hangar. A post-incident inspection revealed damage to the propeller and a hole in the sidewall of the nose tire and inner tube.