SEA96LA009

During a touch-and-go landing, the student pilot made an evasive maneuver on final approach to avoid a collision with a flock of geese. After a left turn toward a row of hangars, he determined that he would not be able to clear the hangars, so he reduced power and landed. During the rollout, the nose landing gear contacted a concrete block in a burrow pit next to the taxiway, and the airplane nosed over.

On October 19, 1995, at 1020 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172, N6477D, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over after an evasive maneuver and off-runway landing at the Laurel, Montana airport. The student pilot, who was the sole occupant, was uninjured. No flight plan was filed for the flight which had departed Billings, Montana, about 1000 for Laurel, for a series of touch-and-go landings. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The ELT activated, but did not assist in locating the accident site.

During a telephone interview, the pilot stated that he touched down on runway 22 in a right crosswind. A flock of geese flew in front of the aircraft from right to left, and he added full power for go-around and raised the flaps from 30 to 20 degrees. The aircraft departed the runway on the left side, and nosed over, damaging the wings, vertical fin, and tail cone.

In a written statement, the pilot stated that he banked left in his evasive maneuver. He stated that when he leveled off, it was evident that he could not make it over the hangars in his flight path. He cut the power and landed, diagonally across the airport and taxiway. During rollout, the nose gear hit a concrete block in the burrow pit along the taxiway. The nose gear separated and the aircraft nosed over, causing substantial damage.