SEA96LA051

While in a climb over the south end of the Great Salt Lake, the engine oil temperature reached the upper limit (red line). The pilot reduced power and monitored the oil temperature while proceeding to the southwest shoreline of the lake. After passing over the shoreline, the pilot started looking for a place where he could land to investigate the cause of the problem. He elected to land in an open snow-covered field, which had snow that he estimated was 1 to 3 inches deep. After a successful touchdown, the aircraft rolled about 60 feet, and then flipped over in the snow. After the accident, the pilot determined that the snow was actually 6 to 8 inches deep.

On February 9, 1996, approximately 1430 mountain standard time (MST), an experimental Madorin Kitfox III, N32308, nosed over during a precautionary off-airport landing near Grantsville, Utah. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The personal pleasure flight, which departed Morgan, Utah, for Wendover, Utah, about one hour earlier, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.

According to the pilot, while he was in a climb over the southwest portion of the Great Salt Lake, the engine began running hot. Because the oil temperature had reached red line, he reduced the power and continued to monitor the oil temperature for about eight to ten minutes. When he reached the southwest shoreline of the lake, the pilot began looking for a place to land so he could investigate the problem. The pilot chose to make the landing in an open snow-covered field. The pilot said that from the air it appeared the snow was about one to three inches deep, but it turned out that it was actually six to eight inches deep. When the aircraft touched down, the main wheels began to sink into the snow, and the aircraft nosed over after a ground roll of about 60 feet.