On April 11, 2003, at 1500 central daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N6317D, operated by SIU Aviation, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing on runway 36R (6,506 feet by 100 feet, asphalt) at the Southern Illinois Airport (MDH), Carbondale, Illinois. The private pilot was not injured. The 14 Part 91 personal cross country flight departed Owensboro, Kentucky, at 1355, and was making a full stop landing at MDH. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a VFR flight plan was filed. The pilot reported she did a go-around on the first landing because she was too high. She reported, "During the second approach I used 20 degrees of flaps. The airplane bounced once and I decided to go around again. On the third approach, I used 10 degrees of flaps and the airplane bounced and then landed." Witnesses reported seeing the airplane "porpoise" down the runway during the first attempted landing, and then it did a go-around. They reported that on the second attempt the airplane was fast on final approach and that it landed flat. The airplane bounced back in the air and began to porpoise down the runway. The witnesses reported the airplane hit hard on the nose with a "crunch," and then it did a go-around. The witnesses reported the airplane did not climb more that 300-400 feet in the traffic pattern before attempting to land a third time. A witness reported that the pilot landed fast and the airplane "porpoised slightly with the tires bouncing between the mains and nose, but very mild in comparison." The pilot kept the airplane on the runway and taxied back to the hangar.