What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Airman elected to land on an unimproved runway during the off season when the airport is reported as closed as per airport facility directory. Runway was covered with hard snow, approximately six inches deep. Upon touchdown aircraft settled into the snow, coming to an abrupt stop, with aircraft inverted on the runway. Airman believed snow depth at this airport would be consistent with that found in fields adjacent to runway at a nearby airport, which was less than 2 inches. Airman overflew accident runway prior to landing and observed grass through the snow, giving the illusion of shallow snow depth. Discussions with airport management reveal that the manager would prefer to show airport closed by NOTAM but prevented from doing so by fss.
As the FAA filed it
AIRMAN ELECTED TO LAND ON AN UNIMPROVED RUNWAY DURING THE OFF SEASON WHEN THE AIRPORT IS REPORTED AS CLOSED AS PER AIRPORT FACILITY DIRECTORY. RUNWAY WAS COVERED WITH HARD SNOW, APPROXIMATELY SIX INCHES DEEP. UPON TOUCHDOWN AIRCRAFT SETTLED INTO THE SNOW, COMING TO AN ABRUPT STOP, WITH AIRCRAFT INVERTED ON THE RUNWAY. AIRMAN BELIEVED SNOW DEPTH AT THIS AIRPORT WOULD BE CONSISTENT WITH THAT FOUND IN FIELDS ADJACENT TO RUNWAY AT A NEARBY AIRPORT, WHICH WAS LESS THAN 2 INCHES. AIRMAN OVERFLEW ACCIDENT RUNWAY PRIOR TO LANDING AND OBSERVED GRASS THROUGH THE SNOW, GIVING THE ILLUSION OF SHALLOW SNOW DEPTH. DISCUSSIONS WITH AIRPORT MANAGEMENT REVEAL THAT THE MANAGER WOULD PREFER TO SHOW AIRPORT CLOSED BY NOTAM BUT PREVENTED FROM DOING SO BY FSS.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.