- Date
- March 10, 2014, 13:19 local (18:19 UTC)
- Place
- Chisago City, MN
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N63HEAmerican Champion 8GCBC
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 23, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20140310001859A
- Case key
- 88911
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The unsuitable landing area encountered by the pilot due to wet soft snow conditions that resulted in a nose over.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot had flown his airplane for about 1/2 hour when he decided to land on a snow-covered lake that he had previously landed on numerous times during this winter. The pilot said the landing felt normal and he maintained the flare as the airplane skis started to touch down. After touchdown, the airplane continued to ski for 40 feet until it nosed over. He exited the plane, walked the tracks of the skis, and did not find any objects that could have caused the accident. The pilot said that the temperature was about 40 degrees F. He indicated that the snow was sticky and that the skis traveled over a soft spot before the nose over. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane in reference to the landing.
Factual narrative
The pilot had flown his airplane for about 1/2 hour when he decided to land on a snow-covered lake that he had previously landed on numerous times during this winter. The pilot said the landing felt normal and he maintained the flare as the airplane skis started to touch down. After touchdown, the airplane continued to ski for 40 feet until it nosed over. He exited the plane, walked the tracks of the skis, and did not find any objects that could have caused the accident. The pilot said that the temperature was about 40 degrees F. He indicated that the snow was sticky and that the skis traveled over a soft spot before the nose over. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane in reference to the landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N63HE
- Reported as
- American Champion 8GCBC (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 452-2004
- Built
- 2004
- Airframe hours
- 742
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-C1G, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 19, 2013
- Departed
- OEO · Osceola, WI
- Destination
- Chisago City, MN
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 812 total · 219 in this make and model · 696 as pilot in command · 23.2 in the last 90 days · 11.5 in the last 30 days · 0.6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.65 inHg
- Observed at
- KOEO, 9 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 7, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.