Narrative:

As I entered the left downwind for runway 35 at jyo I spotted a helicopter at the downwind to base leg of the pattern. I had not heard this aircraft make any calls. I inquired about what his intentions were; as he didn't appear to be following the conventional pattern to land. He said that he was landing; and would 'only be on the ground for a minute'. From this I assumed he was doing a touch and go; and I proceeded to extend my downwind to allow him more time to maneuver. I could only extend my downwind slightly; however; to avoid incurring the special flight rules area (sfra). As I turned base; the helicopter was on the ground and I mentally prepared to go around if he wasn't able to take off in time. At this time; airport operations came on the CTAF and advised that the helicopter was displacing debris and that a runway inspection was necessary. I announced my intention too; and then proceeded to turn from base to upwind and returned to traffic pattern altitude. I was unable to spot the helicopter until I had reached the end of the runway on the upwind; where I had to call to find his position. As I turned crosswind to downwind; the helicopter announced he would hover over the quarry nearby the airport to allow me and the other aircraft in the pattern to land. The pattern was then uneventful until I was on short final. I was a bit shallow and slow; so I added power to ensure I got over the runway; then cut power. I rounded out uneventfully; however as I began to flare; a gust came across the runway at about 30 degrees to the runway; and shifted almost directly crosswind. I had difficulty maintaining longitudinal alignment with the centerline and ended up with my nose at 45 degrees to the centerline. I misjudged my altitude over the runway; and pulled back hard on the yoke. About two seconds later; I landed hard on both mains simultaneously. I was still severely angled with respect to the centerline of the runway; however I was afraid of rolling the plane if I attempted to turn too rapidly. I ran off the runway into the grass alongside the runway. I avoided runway lighting and signs along the runway; and reentered the runway within 20 seconds of leaving it. The aircraft behind me in the pattern went around uneventfully. There was no damage done to me or the aircraft. I believe that the combination of aircraft acting erratically in the pattern and airport operations inspecting the runway caused my normal flow of operations to be disrupted; and this led me to make mistakes on my landing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 student pilot reported loss of directional control on short final that led to a hard landing and a runway excursion.

Narrative: As I entered the left downwind for Runway 35 at JYO I spotted a helicopter at the downwind to base leg of the pattern. I had not heard this aircraft make any calls. I inquired about what his intentions were; as he didn't appear to be following the conventional pattern to land. He said that he was landing; and would 'only be on the ground for a minute'. From this I assumed he was doing a touch and go; and I proceeded to extend my downwind to allow him more time to maneuver. I could only extend my downwind slightly; however; to avoid incurring the Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA). As I turned base; the helicopter was on the ground and I mentally prepared to go around if he wasn't able to take off in time. At this time; Airport Operations came on the CTAF and advised that the helicopter was displacing debris and that a runway inspection was necessary. I announced my intention too; and then proceeded to turn from base to upwind and returned to traffic pattern altitude. I was unable to spot the helicopter until I had reached the end of the runway on the upwind; where I had to call to find his position. As I turned crosswind to downwind; the helicopter announced he would hover over the quarry nearby the airport to allow me and the other aircraft in the pattern to land. The pattern was then uneventful until I was on short final. I was a bit shallow and slow; so I added power to ensure I got over the runway; then cut power. I rounded out uneventfully; however as I began to flare; a gust came across the runway at about 30 degrees to the runway; and shifted almost directly crosswind. I had difficulty maintaining longitudinal alignment with the centerline and ended up with my nose at 45 degrees to the centerline. I misjudged my altitude over the runway; and pulled back hard on the yoke. About two seconds later; I landed hard on both mains simultaneously. I was still severely angled with respect to the centerline of the runway; however I was afraid of rolling the plane if I attempted to turn too rapidly. I ran off the runway into the grass alongside the runway. I avoided runway lighting and signs along the runway; and reentered the runway within 20 seconds of leaving it. The aircraft behind me in the pattern went around uneventfully. There was no damage done to me or the aircraft. I believe that the combination of aircraft acting erratically in the pattern and Airport Operations inspecting the runway caused my normal flow of operations to be disrupted; and this led me to make mistakes on my landing.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.