CHI03LA050

The airplane bounced upon the third landing attempt, and the nose landing gear collapsed. The student pilot reported he misjudged the flare. After the bounce, he improperly pushed the yoke forward in an attempt to get the airplane landed. The weather reports show that during the previous hour, the wind speed increased from 8 knots to 12 knots gusting to 18 knots.

On January 8, 2003, at 1556 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N757LE, operated my Northwest Michigan College, and piloted by a student pilot, sustained substantial damage during landing on runway 18 (5,107 feet by 150 feet, asphalt), at the Cherry Capital Airport, Traverse City, Michigan. The 14 CFR Part 91 solo instructional flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The student pilot was not injured. The local flight originated about 1445.

The pilot reported that on his first attempt to land, he was blown to the left of the runway and he executed a go-around. The pilot further reported that on his second landing attempt, he landed hard due to the gusty crosswind and he performed an aborted landing. The pilot said that he was "feeling a bit panicky about [his] ability to get the plane sefely down." He reported that, during his third landing attempt , the airplane again bounced, "probably from misjudging the flare and trying to maintain the crosswind correction." He stated that he "incorrectly pushed the yoke forward" after the bounce. The airplane's nose landing gear impacted the runway and collapsed.

The weather reporting station located at the accident airport recorded the wind as:

Observation time: 1353

Wind direction: 210 degrees

Wind speed: 7 knots

Observation time: 1453

Wind direction: 190 degrees

Wind speed: 8 knots

Observation time: 1553

Wind direction: 210 degrees

Wind speed: 12 knots gusting to 18 knots.