WPR12LA444

The pilot reported that he was landing the airplane in gusting wind conditions and encountered windshear during the landing flare. After landing hard, the airplane bounced, and the pilot applied corrective actions; however, the airplane touched down a second time, on its nosewheel, which resulted in substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

On April 26, 2012, about 1330 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172S, N320ME, sustained substantial damage following a hard landing at the Glendale Municipal Airport, Glendale, Arizona. The commercial pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was registered to Air Safety Ventures, and operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) local personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight that originated from Glendale at 1155. The pilot was landing in gusting wind conditions and reported that he encountered a wind shear during the landing flare on runway 19. The airplane bounced and he applied corrective actions; however, the airplane touched down a second time, on its nose wheel, which resulted in substantial damage to the firewall. The wind conditions during the timeframe of the accident were from 200 degrees at 14 knots with gusts to 24 knots. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.