No fatalities

Airplane Veers Left During Landing, Collides with Snowbank

Sun River, OR, United States

On January 20, 2020, a Cessna 172 N operated by Leading Edge Aviation, Inc. was involved in an aviation accident near Sun River, OR. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll on a runway with icy patches, which resulted in impact with a snowbank and a subsequent nose-over. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 13 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 2026-08-03Data APIEditorial standards

During landing on an icy runway, the airplane veered left despite corrective rudder input. The pilot aborted but the airplane struck a snowbank and nosed over, sustaining substantial damage.

Incident Summary

A pilot reported that after an uneventful cross-country flight, the airplane touched down smoothly on the runway. During the landing roll, the airplane began to veer to the left. The pilot applied right rudder to correct, but the airplane continued veering left. The pilot then aborted the landing by applying full engine power, while continuing to apply right rudder. Despite these actions, the airplane collided with a snowbank on the left side of the runway and nosed over.

Runway Conditions

The pilot reported that the runway surface was coated in icy patches at the time of the incident.

Aircraft Damage

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and the vertical stabilizer.

Pilot Report

The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Contributing factors

PilotDirectional control — Not attained/maintainedEffect on operation