What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Pilot privacy data omitted departed a grass airfield with one passenger on board. He flew to another grass airfield where he joined the pattern and made an approach to land. Pilot privacy data omitted had never landed at this airstrip before and did not do a low approach to assess the area. Pilot privacy data omitted mistook a hay field for the grass runway. As the plane descended, the main landing gear began hitting the hay which created enough drag causing the nose of the airplane to pitch down. The nose of the airplane struck the ground and then the airplane flipped over on its back suffering substantial damage. Both pilot and passenger were able to extricate from the wreckage with minimal assistance.
As the FAA filed it
PILOT ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ DEPARTED A GRASS AIRFIELD WITH ONE PASSENGER ON BOARD. HE FLEW TO ANOTHER GRASS AIRFIELD WHERE HE JOINED THE PATTERN AND MADE AN APPROACH TO LAND. PILOT ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ HAD NEVER LANDED AT THIS AIRSTRIP BEFORE AND DID NOT DO A LOW APPROACH TO ASSESS THE AREA. PILOT ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ MISTOOK A HAY FIELD FOR THE GRASS RUNWAY. AS THE PLANE DESCENDED, THE MAIN LANDING GEAR BEGAN HITTING THE HAY WHICH CREATED ENOUGH DRAG CAUSING THE NOSE OF THE AIRPLANE TO PITCH DOWN. THE NOSE OF THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE GROUND AND THEN THE AIRPLANE FLIPPED OVER ON ITS BACK SUFFERING SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. BOTH PILOT AND PASSENGER WERE ABLE TO EXTRICATE FROM THE WRECKAGE WITH MINIMAL ASSISTANCE.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.