NTSB Factual Report

On August 13, 2004, at 1053 Hawaiian standard time, a Cessna 172S, N3554Y, experienced a hard landing and veered off the runway at the Honolulu International Airport, Honolulu, Hawaii. Flight School Hawaii was operating the rental airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed. The local instructional flight originated at Kalaeloa Airport, Kapolei, Hawaii, about 1030, with a planned destination of Honolulu.

In a telephone conversation with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, the student pilot reported that he was attempting to land on runway 04L. He configured the airplane for landing and noted that the approach appeared normal. During the landing flare, the airplane touched down on the main landing gear and bounced back into the air. Upon returning back down onto the runway surface the airplane hit hard and bounced down the runway several more times. On the third bounce the nose gear collapsed and the airplane veered to the right. It continued off the runway and came to rest on a grass median. The airplane incurred damage to the firewall.

In a written statement, the student pilot stated that he did not properly flare, which resulted in a hard landing. He added that in retrospect, he should have added power and executed a go-around. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause

the student pilot's misjudged flare, which resulted in a hard landing. Also causal was the student pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing and pilot induced porpoise and failure to maintain directional control on the landing roll, which resulted in the nose gear collapsing.