NYC96LA045

The student pilot was carrying a passenger. He overflew the airport to check runway conditions and wind. Two runways were available. One was hard surfaced, and had been plowed, but had a crosswind. The other runway was a snow covered turf runway that was into the wind. He announced his intentions on UNICOM to land on the turf runway. The pilot of another airplane advised against landing on the runway, but did not offer any runway condition information. The pilot continued with the approach, touched down, and after touchdown, the wheels dug into the snow, and the airplane nosed over. He reported that the snow was about 8 inches deep, he picked the runway because it was into the wind, and he thought the snow was hard packed.

On December 29, 1995, at 1210 eastern standard time, a Cessna 150J, N50836, was substantially damaged during a landing at the Kutztown Airport, Kutztown, Pennsylvania. The student pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal transportation flight which originated at Smoketown, Pennsylvania, at 1130, and was operated under 14 CFR Part 91.

In the NTSB Accident Report, the pilot stated:

Decided to land on runway 28 due to wind direction - Called UNICOM on downwind of intention to land on 28. Called on base and another plane taxing said they would hold. Did not say whether 28 was safe.

After initial contact plane rolled on snow until it lost most forward momentum. Right gear dropped in deeper snow and caused nose wheel to come down and plane nosed over and slid to a stop....

In a telephone interview, the pilot reported that he chose runway 28 because he thought the snow was hard packed, and the runway was into the wind; however, after landing, he determined that the snow was soft, and its depth was about 8 inches. Additionally, he reported that, although the passenger held a pilot certificate, he did not make any decisions about the flight or operate the flight controls.

In a telephone interview, an FAA Inspector reported that runway 17/35, a hard surfaced runway which was free of snow was also available. Additionally, he reported that the pilot of another airplane had advised against landing on runway 28, but offered no information on actual runway conditions.