Accident to the Schleicher - ASK21 registered F-CJEM on 12/08/2019 at Vinon AD (Var)

Note: The following information is principally based on statements made by the student pilot and his instructor. This information has not been independently validated by the BEA.

1 - History of the flight

At the end of a supervised solo flight, the student pilot lined up on final for runway 16[1] of Vinon aerodrome (Var).

The student pilot reported that the approach was stabilized at a height of 500 ft but that the flare was carried out too high and too early. After bouncing on the runway, he retracted the speed brakes and the glider picked up speed. He then made an excessive nose-down input and the nose of the aircraft came into contact with the ground. The student pilot added that he was not used to landing on this runway, having only done so once prior to the occurrence, and that consequently he lacked visual references.  

During the approach, the instructor observed that the glider’s path slightly curved on short final at a height of 10-15 m and that the glider kept a high speed down to the ground without flaring. He indicated that the underside of the nose of the aircraft was damaged when the nose wheel touched down, that the aircraft bounced taking a nose-up attitude and then fell to the ground with a very low horizontal speed.