Kahului, HI, USA
N738DB
Cessna 172
The solo student pilot reported that, while in the airport traffic pattern, the air traffic tower controller instructed her to follow a heavy jet airplane. She saw the heavy jet airplane and confirmed it with the tower controller who then cleared the pilot to land behind the heavy jet and provided a caution for wake turbulence. As she maintained a final approach to land "past the numbers" and prepared for the landing flare, the wings suddenly rolled right, and the nose dropped. She attempted to correct, but the airplane landed hard, skidded off the runway, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, lift struts, and empennage.
The solo student pilot reported that, while in the airport traffic pattern, she was instructed by air traffic control to follow a heavy jet airplane. She located the heavy jet airplane and confirmed with tower she was cleared to land number two, with a caution for wake turbulence. As she maintained a final approach to land "past the numbers" and prepared for the landing flare, the wings suddenly rolled right, and the nose dropped. She attempted to correct, but the airplane landed hard, skidded off the runway, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, lift struts, and empennage.
The student pilot's failure to avoid wake turbulence while landing behind a heavy jet airplane, which resulted in a loss of roll control and subsequent hard landing.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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