What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) After about 2.5 hours of flight conducting a sar mission the pilot elected to land for a break. The sar command post was located in the vicinity of strawberry resevoir, UT. The existing normal roads were unusable due to posts along the side to aid the snowplows in identifying the edge of the narrow roads. The pilot elected to make three passes on a stretch of dirt service road. During each pass he allowed the large tundra tires to settle into the snow in order to assess the depth. He determined the depth to be about six inches, adequate for the type of tires. During the landing all went well until at a relatively slow airspeed the weight of the slow aircraft broke through an apparent hard crust and instantly sank into snow estimated to be approximately eighteen inches. This caused the aircraft to flip over the nose and come to rest in an upside down position. (-23 amendment) amended to correct a typo of the registration number. The initial report incorrectly had N85YH as the registration number. The correct registration is N85HY as stated on this amendment.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) AFTER ABOUT 2.5 HOURS OF FLIGHT CONDUCTING A SAR MISSION THE PILOT ELECTED TO LAND FOR A BREAK. THE SAR COMMAND POST WAS LOCATED IN THE VICINITY OF STRAWBERRY RESEVOIR, UT. THE EXISTING NORMAL ROADS WERE UNUSABLE DUE TO POSTS ALONG THE SIDE TO AID THE SNOWPLOWS IN IDENTIFYING THE EDGE OF THE NARROW ROADS. THE PILOT ELECTED TO MAKE THREE PASSES ON A STRETCH OF DIRT SERVICE ROAD. DURING EACH PASS HE ALLOWED THE LARGE TUNDRA TIRES TO SETTLE INTO THE SNOW IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE DEPTH. HE DETERMINED THE DEPTH TO BE ABOUT SIX INCHES, ADEQUATE FOR THE TYPE OF TIRES. DURING THE LANDING ALL WENT WELL UNTIL AT A RELATIVELY SLOW AIRSPEED THE WEIGHT OF THE SLOW AIRCRAFT BROKE THROUGH AN APPARENT HARD CRUST AND INSTANTLY SANK INTO SNOW ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY EIGHTEEN INCHES. THIS CAUSED THE AIRCRAFT TO FLIP OVER THE NOSE AND COME TO REST IN AN UPSIDE DOWN POSITION. (-23 AMENDMENT) AMENDED TO CORRECT A TYPO OF THE REGISTRATION NUMBER. THE INITIAL REPORT INCORRECTLY HAD N85YH AS THE REGISTRATION NUMBER. THE CORRECT REGISTRATION IS N85HY AS STATED ON THIS AMENDMENT.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.