Event CEN23LA096

Factual narrative

The pilot of the personal flight reported that the flight was destined to his privately-owned airstrip, which was covered with approximately six inches of “very wet and dense” snow. During landing rollout, the airplane’s deceleration was typical but then decelerated faster than the pilot “could imagine.” The airplane tail rose very quickly, and the airplane then nosed over coming to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left and right wings, the vertical stabilizer, and the rudder. The pilot reported that there was no preaccident failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot also reported that the accident could have been prevented by using a snow depth limit of four inches if its liquid water content is unknown, and if landing in similar conditions, to land with a little power to keep the tail down. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
• — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Pitch control-Attain/maintain not possible
• — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot