On December 10, 2001, a Maule M-7-235 (registration N61385) operated by Eagle Cap Aviation was involved in an aviation accident near Halfway, OR. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing on a snow-covered runway, which resulted in the aircraft nosing over and coming to rest inverted. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
A pilot executed a soft-field landing on a runway with less than five inches of snow, but the aircraft rolled and inverted after touching down under visual meteorological conditions.
What happened
The pilot reported conducting two passes over the runway prior to landing to assess surface conditions. Based on these observations, the pilot determined that there was less than five inches of snow on the landing surface. The pilot then executed what was described as a normal soft-field landing.
Following touchdown, the aircraft rolled approximately 200 feet before nosing over and coming to rest in an inverted position. The pilot reported that no mechanical malfunction or failure was involved in the incident. Visual meteorological conditions with calm winds were reported at the time of the event.
Findings
The primary factors contributing to the accident were the snow-covered runway surface and the subsequent loss of directional control during the landing roll. The aircraft's inversion resulted from the nosing over after rolling on the compromised surface.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing on a snow-covered runway, which resulted in the aircraft nosing over and coming to rest inverted.