Cessna 152
Flight Crew Student
Training / Qualification
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Ground Strike - Aircraft; Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; General Maintenance Action
Company Policy; Human Factors
I am a student pilot. I flew my first solo flight and upon my second landing; the prop struck the runway.I had a lesson and [my instructor and I] had been preparing for me to solo at the end of the week. The tentative plan was for me to have two more lessons with [my instructor] before I was to solo. Did not practice flying between these two sessions; which was the longest amount of time that I had taken off from flying since I had started lessons. [My instructor] had previously asked me if I was ready to solo. I found this comment unusual since I thought that he would be the one telling me when I was ready. I said no and thought he was being humorous because I felt extremely under-prepared. He also asked me why I was not confident. I performed two touch and go's and two full stop landings with [my instructor] without issue and he asked me while taxiing back to the non-movement area if I was ready to solo. I felt confident after my two successful landings and agreed... although there was a part of me that was unsure. I also felt like I might be seen as a failure if I said no. [My instructor] exited the plane in the non-movement area and we agreed that I would meet him back at [the FBO] after I soloed. I assumed that he would be watching each landing and making sure that I adhered to the standards that we had discussed during our lessons. The first landing went smoothly (and [my instructor] stated that he had witnessed the landing and that it was near perfect). After taking off for the second time on my own; I was in the pattern and was instructed by the tower to extend my downwind. I did so until I was instructed by tower to turn base. The approach was stabilized until the plane started floating/ballooning over the runway and then I started sinking and pulled the nose up; but not quick enough to prevent the plane from impacting nose-first on the runway. The plane bounced hard on the runway several times in a row; but I was able to slow the airplane down and exit safely off of [the runway]. The tower told me to go to ground and I contacted ground; requesting to taxi back to [the runway]. I was shaken up after the rough landing; but did not think that the plane was damaged from the landing. The tower cleared me for takeoff and I taxied back to [the runway] and took off for a third time and on my downwind received an urgent call from the tower instructing me to land on [the runway] as another pilot had noticed my last landing and thought that damage to the plane might have occurred. I landed and was followed by an airport firefighter crew back to the [FBO] ramp.
Student pilot reported the aircraft became unstable during a solo landing that resulted in the propeller striking the runway surface.