On April 23, 1996, at 1643 central daylight time, a Piper PA-38-112, N2537D, was substantially damaged while landing at the Alice International Airport, in Alice, Texas. The airplane was owned by AVlease Inc., and operated by Southwind Aviation of Brownsville, Texas. The student pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured. The supervised solo cross country flight was conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight for which a flight plan was filed. The airplane last departed from Corpus Christi International Airport, approximately 30 minutes prior to the accident. According to witnesses, the airplane made an approach to Runway 13, landed hard, bounced and porpoised 2 or 3 times, collapsing the nose landing gear. The airplane veered off the runway and impacted a taxiway sign resulting in substantial damage to the left wing.