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Atlas / NTSB / WPR23LA053

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR23LA053

2022-12-03 Morgan, Utah, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N60WY

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

AVIAT AIRCRAFT INC A-1C-180

Year of manufacture

2022 · 0 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING O-360-A1P (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20220211

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A7C6F1

Registrant of record

CANNON LAND LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from snow covered terrain while maneuvering at low attitude. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s loss of visual reference due to snow and flat light conditions.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, the intention of the flight was to fly over a friend’s property to determine how much snow had accumulated. On a low approach without intent to land, the overcast sky and flat light made it difficult to determine his height above the field, and the airplane’s right wheel touched the soft snow and dug in. The pilot attempted a go-around, however the left main tire then dug in. He decided to land rather than lose directional control, however on rollout the airplane struck a snow drift that he could not see, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, vertical fin, and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 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).

  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Flat light-Effect on personnel
  • Personnel issues-Psychological-Perception/orientation/illusion-Visual illusion/disorientation-Pilot
  • Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot
  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-Snow/slush/ice covered surface-Response/compensation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2022_WPR23LA053.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗