Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fruitland, Utah 84032
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 13:10 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Because he was wearing a life vest during the flight, the pilot's back began to ache, so he decided to land on a nearby snow-covered road to rest. After selecting the road, the pilot made three low passes over the road, each time rolling the aircraft's wheels along the surface to judge the depth and softness of the snow. After reaching the conclusion that the snow was about six inches deep, and soft enough for landing, the pilot attempted a full-stop landing on the tracks made during the previous passes. During the landing roll the aircraft broke through a crusted layer of snow, whereupon its wheels penetrated the snow to about 18 inches. As the aircraft broke through the crust layer, the pilot started to add power in an attempt to go around, but the main wheels dug into the snow, and the aircraft nosed over onto its back. In a post-accident telephone interview, the pilot stated that he had radio contact with individuals on the ground who could have reached the area he chose to land at in less than five minutes. He further stated that after the accident he realized that it would have been wise for him to ask those individuals to check the snow depth at the landing site before he tried to land there.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper in-flight decision to land on snow covered terrain. Deep snow on the terrain that the pilot chose to land on was a factor in this accident.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/15/2006
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1310
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Fruitland
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84032
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 401107N
Event Location Longitude 1111115W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21527
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Nov 15 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 29 2007 12:24PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N85HY
NTSB Number SEA07LA018
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Aviat
Aircraft Model A-1B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 2185
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Commander Funk, LLC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Portland
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97239
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Brian Rowser
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Portland
Operator State OR
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 97239
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 36U
Departure City Heber
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Fruitland
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 12 2007 8:54PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --