Pilot with instructor; report landing short of the runway; in two feet of snow; during a simulated engine out landing.
Synopsis
Pilot with instructor; report landing short of the runway; in two feet of snow; during a simulated engine out landing.
Narrative
Cruising at about 2500f FT MSL; my instructor pulled power to an idle; applied carb heat; and told me I just lost engine power. I pitched for best glide and performed a flow check for a restart. I then decided to head for ZZZ to land on Runway 28. Winds were about 310@7. I made a radio call and entered the pattern on a 45 degree downwind at pattern altitude for 28. I added 10 degrees of flaps on downwind also. I then made a radio call to turn left base for 28; made the turn; and added flaps to 20 degrees. I then made the radio call for final which was to be a full stop; and made the turn. I added full flaps shortly after making the turn to final. It was looking like it was going to be close for making the touchdown point. On short final I decided to add some power just to be sure I was going to make the runway. At about half throttle the main wheels came in contact with the deep snow on the ground; and then the nose wheel came down. The nose wheel folded over when it hit a snowmobile track; which resulted in a prop strike and I skidded to a stop about 100 FT short of Runway 28. The main contributing factors for not making the runway were: Not adding full throttle; adding throttle to late; and not producing enough lift with full flaps. The point of touchdown is also about 15 FT higher then the runway; and with the snow; the perception of contour; may have been distorted; and hindered my judgment of height.
Second reporter narrative
Once level at 3;000 FT I retarded the throttle to idle in order to simulate an engine failure and evaluate emergency landing procedures. At this time we were currently 1 mile west of ZZZ; still at 3;000 FT. Believing that ZZZ would be the best landing spot for our 'simulated emergency'; the Pilot turned the aircraft onto a left downwind for Runway 28 and began descending and configuring for an approach. He then completed the emergency procedures and engine-restart checklists. He continued the decent through pattern altitude; maintaining best-glide speed; and began to add flaps. He then turned base leg; and added more flaps. He then turned final; and extended full flaps. The descent continued and around 400 FT it became apparent that it was going to be a stretch to achieve the desired glide-path in order to land on the runway. We had a high pitch attitude; which combined with the low-wing airplane made it was to judge our current rate of descent. At this time I realized we were very low and needed to apply power immediately and discontinue the simulated emergency in order to avoid ground contact. The Pilot also realized this and before I could verbalize my thoughts he had already applied engine power and began to go-around. Not even 3 seconds later I felt the wheels sink into the snow and the airplane began to rapidly decelerate. The nose of the airplane dipped downward and the propeller contacted the ground; stopping the engine. The airplane came to a complete stop; 45 degrees nose-down in the snow; which was about 2 feet deep. We shut the electrical and fuel systems down; removed our shoulder harnesses; and safely exited the aircraft. Neither of us were hurt.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.