- Date
- May 7, 2024, 17:17 UTC
- Place
- Waco, TX · Grass alongside runway
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N502UTecnam P2010
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - North Texas FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240507010979A
- Case key
- 194348
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The student pilot’s inadequate landing flare that led to a bounced landing, and his improper pitch control while he attempted a recovery from the bounced landing which resulted in a significant nose-down pitch attitude upon the second touchdown.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The student pilot was conducting a solo flight when the airplane landed hard, bounced, and then struck nose wheel first on the runway. The nose landing gear separated from the forward fuselage and the airplane veered left. The airplane then skidded off the left edge of the runway in a nose down attitude. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward fuselage structure and several engine tube mounts. The airplane operator reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Based on a review of recorded data, the student pilot did not maintain adequate pitch control during his attempted recovery from the bounced landing, which resulted in a significant nose-down pitch attitude upon the second touchdown.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N502U
- Reported as
- Tecnam P2010
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 102/US
- Built
- 2019
- Airframe hours
- 2,269
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-M1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Universal Flight Concepts
- Registered owner
- Tecnam US Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 16, 2024 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- ACT · Waco, TX
- Destination
- ACT · Waco, TX
- Airport
- ACT · Waco Regional Airport, runway 19, 7,107 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Data recorder, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Onboard weather, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Angle of attack indicator
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 41
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 7, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 48 total · 48 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 39 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.64 inHg
- Observed at
- KACT
- METAR
- METAR KACT 072151Z 19011KT 10SM CLR 31/22 A2964 RMK AO2 SLP028 T03110222=
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 21, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 14.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.