July 31, Cojimar, Cuba / Cessna Skyhawk

At about 16:47 eastern time, a Cessna 172N suffered a collapsed nose gear while attempting a landing on a road near Cojimar. The student pilot received minor injuries. The flight had originated from Marathon, Fla., at about 15:30. The student had made three touch and goes and the instructor signed him off for his first supervised solo. The instructor said the student entered a left traffic pattern for a return landing on runway 7, but the student then reported on the radio that he could not fly the airplane, that his hands were cold, and that he did not know what was wrong. On final approach at about 200 feet, the airplane broke off the approach, turned to the southwest and disappeared from sight. A U.S. Navy airplane made visual contact with the airplane but did not make radio contact. The flight continued into Cuban airspace.