CHI96LA180

While performing practice crosswind landings, the student pilot pushed the yoke forward in the flare. The flight instructor said that he could not react in time, and the airplane struck nose gear first, collapsing the nose gear. When the nose gear collapsed, the upper-scissor assembly penetrated the belly skin and ruptured the main fuel line between the low-point drain and the gascolator. Subsequently, a fire erupted and the airplane was destroyed.

On May 30, 1996, at 1700 central daylight time (cdt), a Cessna 152, N94647, registered to the Heartland Aviation, Inc., of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, with a commercially certified flight instructor acting as pilot-in-command during a dual instructional flight, was destroyed when the student pilot pushed the yoke forward in the flare. The airplane impacted on runway 22 at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The airplane struck nose first collapsing the airplane's nose gear, followed by a post-crash fire. The instructor and student pilot reported no injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight was not operating on a flight plan. The flight departed Eau Claire, Wisconsin, at 1630 cdt.

According to the certified flight instructor's (CFI) written statement he was introducing the student pilot to crosswind landings. The student pilot was at the controls on the second landing when he pushed the yoke forward in the flare. The CFI stated, "The landing was hard and the nose wheel touched first and then the mains. The nose gear collapsed and the airplane skidded to a stop." The airplane was consumed by post-crash fire.

The Federal Aviation Administration Principal Maintenance Inspector (PMI) who inspected the airplane stated the accident occurred when the student pilot, who was practicing crosswind takeoff and landings with his instructor, forced the airplane onto the runway during the landing flare. The CFI stated that the student's actions were too fast for his intervention. The failure of the nose gear and subsequent folding of the nose gear underneath the belly of the airplane, allowed the upper-scissor assembly to penetrate the belly skin. This ruptured the main fuel line between the low-point drain and the fuel gascolator.