NYC96LA120

The student pilot returned to Matawan from a solo cross-country flight, and attempted to land on runway 27. On the fourth landing attempt, the airplane touched down hard, bounced twice, and the nose gear collapsed. The student reported that the wind speed had increased by the time she had returned to Matawan. The wind at a nearby airport was reported to be from 140 degrees at 5 knots with gusts to 15 knots. No malfunction of the airplane was reported by the pilot.

On May 25, 1996, about 1430 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150L, N10439, was substantially damaged when the nose gear collapsed during a hard landing, at the Marlboro Airport, Matawan, New Jersey. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross country flight that departed Allentown, Pennsylvania, about 1230. No flight plan was filed for the instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

In the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated:

I was on a solo cross country to Allentown, Pennsylvania. I had no problem going there. I didn't do another weather check because the weather report I got in the morning, when I left, was until [1400]. Coming back to Marlboro, it was windy and very bumpy. . . .When I finally came back to Marlboro, there was very bad wind. I did three go-arounds. On the fourth [landing attempt to runway 27], I came down hard. The plane bounced twice and the nose wheel collapsed. This was my first cross country. . . .After I did land, I shut the ignition, master switch and fuel shut off, but the [propeller] had already hit and spun on the ground.

The pilot reported that there were no malfunctions with the airplane. Also, she had a total flight experience of 45 hours, including 5 hours of solo time.

According to the Airport Facility Directory, runway 27 was a 2156 foot long, 40 foot wide runway. The winds at a nearby airport were reported from 140 degrees at 5 knots with 15 knot gusts.