What happened
During an attempt to change course and move away from descending clouds and snow showers, the pilot initiated a 180-degree turn. During this maneuver, the right wing of the aircraft struck the snow-covered terrain. The pilot reported experiencing near-total loss of visibility due to whiteout conditions at the time of the impact.
While the pilot escaped the incident without injury, the aircraft sustained damage that rendered it a total loss. The event occurred during the maneuvering phase of flight while the operator was attempting to navigate around inclement weather.
Findings
Official investigations into the accident identified several contributing factors related to environmental conditions and flight operations:
- Severe weather conditions, specifically active snowfall.
- Presence of whiteout conditions which obscured visual references.
- The pilot's inadvertent entry into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) while operating under visual flight rules (VFR).
- Failure to maintain a safe altitude during the turn.