NTSB Factual Report

At the conclusion of a local flight, the pilot returned to his home airport and approached the runway for landing. The airplane touched down on the runway with the main landing gear, bounced back into the air, and touched down a second time, with the nose landing gear striking the runway first. The nose landing gear tire then separated from the landing gear, and the airplane continued down the runway on the wheel's rim. The remaining lower portion of the landing gear subsequently broke away from the airplane, and the airplane eventually came to a stop on the runway. Federal Aviation Administration inspectors examined the runway and airplane following the accident and estimated that the distance between the airplane's initial impact and where it eventually came to rest was about 300 feet. The separated portions of the nose landing gear were recovered from that portion of the runway, including the tire, wheel rim, landing gear fork, and up-position microswitch. Post accident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation, and that the firewall and lower portion of the fuselage had been substantially damaged.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's improper landing flare, resulting in a hard landing.