| Crash location | 37.380556°N, 120.568056°W |
| Nearest city | Merced, CA
37.302163°N, 120.482968°W 7.2 miles away |
| Tail number | N5155B |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 31 Aug 2009 |
| Aircraft type | Cessna 152 |
| Additional details: | None |
During the landing flare for a full-stop landing, the student pilot's lack of adequate pitch control resulted in the airplane entering a wheelbarrow type oscillation on the nose wheel. Because the student pilot was unable to correct the oscillation, the airplane's nose wheel hit the runway surface with sufficient force to collapse the nose gear strut and to damage the firewall.
The pilot's improper flare which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent collapse of the nose landing gear strut.