Accident Sequence
The pilot reported that the airplane touched down a couple of feet left of the runway centerline. He immediately noticed the aircraft skidding to the left and applied right rudder, but there seemed to be no response. The aircraft continued sliding left into deeper snow, pivoted left, the propeller impacted a snowbank, and the airplane nosed over, coming to rest inverted.
Pilot Experience
The pilot had a total flight time of 15.4 hours, comprising 13.8 hours of dual instruction and 1.6 hours as pilot-in-command. The accident flight was his third flight as pilot-in-command.
Runway Conditions
A witness described the runway condition: "Runway 31 appeared to have been ploughed but was covered in snow with no blacktop [visible]." The Duty Instructor for that morning had determined that runway conditions should be checked before students could solo and placed a notification in the dispatch room stating, "No solos until the runway has been checked." The student pilot's instructor initially decided not to sign the student off for solo until runway conditions improved and were checked. Later, an instructor flying in the traffic pattern notified dispatch that "solo operation would not be a problem if one did not lock up the brakes." The student's flight instructor did not communicate with the Duty Instructor about the runway conditions and released the student pilot for solo operations.
Wreckage Inspection
Inspection of the wreckage revealed no anomalies with the airframe, flight controls, or engine.