Incident Details
A student pilot was conducting touch-and-go landings on a runway that had recently been cleared of snow. The snow removal operations had created snow berms 3 to 4 feet high along the runway edges, which reduced the runway width by approximately 25 percent. After a landing, the pilot added power for takeoff, and the airplane began to drift to the left. The pilot applied right rudder input, but the airplane continued drifting left. Subsequently, the left main landing gear began contacting the snow berm along the left edge of the runway. The pilot then decided to abort the takeoff. The airplane pivoted to the left into the snow berm and nosed down.
Pilot Experience
The pilot had accrued a total of 51 hours of flight time, with 15 hours in the accident aircraft make and model. No further pilot details were provided in the source.
Runway Conditions
The runway edges were lined with snow berms, a result of clearing operations. These berms significantly reduced the usable width of the runway, though the exact dimensions of the runway were not specified in the source.