What happened
A private certificated pilot was performing a landing at a hunting campsite, an area where he had previously landed. The landing site consisted of a grass-covered area approximately 600 feet long and 12 feet wide, oriented northwest/southeast.
The pilot attempted to land toward the southeast. During the landing roll, the main landing gear tires encountered soft terrain. According to the pilot's report, a gust of wind caused the aircraft to bounce during the landing process. Upon the second contact with the ground, the pilot was unable to lower the tail of the aircraft. As the tail began to rise, the aircraft underwent a nose-over.
The accident resulted in structural damage to the rudder, the left wing, and the left wing lift strut. At the time of the event, wind conditions were reported as 220 degrees magnetic at 8 knots, with gusts up to 10 knots.
Findings
The investigation noted that the landing area was extremely narrow, measuring only about 12 feet wide. The encounter with soft terrain during the landing roll and the inability to maintain tail position following a wind-induced bounce were key factors in the aircraft nosed over.