SEA99LA029

The pilot reported that earlier in the day he talked with a friend that he was going to pick up at the airport. The pilot instructed the friend to call someone and have the snow plowed off the runway. The friend contacted the city employee responsible for plowing the runway. The employee stated that he would have the runway plowed. The plow operator plowed down one half of the runway to centerline and then partially plowed the other half before stopping and not finishing the job. The pilot stated that, prior to departure, he checked for Notams at the destination airport. There were none, and the flight took off and arrived in the area just after dusk. The pilot entered the traffic pattern for landing and touchdown was normal. The pilot stated that reverse thrust was used to slow the aircraft. About 1,000 feet down the runway, and at 50 knots airspeed, the left main gear collided with a snow berm that was down the centerline of the runway. The aircraft veered off the runway and collapsed the nose gear. The plow operator reported that there was no airport manager, and he did not know that he could have closed the airport.

On December 27, 1998, about 1830 mountain standard time, a Beech 200, N6684B, registered to J.P. Air Charter, operated by KMR Aviation as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, collided with a snow berm during the landing roll at the Weiser Airport, Weiser, Idaho. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airline transport pilot and commercial pilot were not injured. The flight had originated from Twin Falls, Idaho, about 45 minutes prior to the accident.

During a telephone interview and subsequent written statement, the commercial pilot reported that earlier in the day, about noon, he had called a friend in Weiser, who he was going to pickup, to let her know when the flight was due. The pilot asked the friend to call and have someone plow the snow from the runway. The pilot stated that prior to take off from Twin Falls, he checked for Notams and reported that there were none. The pilot stated that the flight arrived in the area just after dusk, and he entered the traffic pattern for landing on runway 30. The pilot stated that touch down was normal and reverse thrust was used to slow the aircraft. During the landing roll, at about 1,000 feet down the runway, and 50 knots of airspeed, the left main landing gear collided with a snow berm that was down the centerline of the runway. The aircraft turned 90 degrees to the left and the nose gear collapsed. The aircraft turned 90 degrees back to the right, and continued to travel off the side of the runway and slid another 110 feet before coming to rest.

The friend who was in Weiser stated that she contacted the Supervisor of City Works to inform him of the arrival of the aircraft. The friend asked the Supervisor if he was going to clear the runway, which was covered with about six inches of snow. The Supervisor reported that they were responsible to keep the runway clear, but that he hadn't scheduled a crew to go out there. The friend informed the Supervisor that the aircraft was due about 1745. The Supervisor stated that he had an anniversary party to attend that afternoon, but agreed to have someone take care of it. The Supervisor wanted to have the friend call him if the flight was going to land in Ontario, Oregon, instead of Weiser. The friend reported that the pilots were unsure which airport they were going to land. The friend agreed to let the Supervisor know if they were not going to land in Weiser, and if he did not hear from her, he understood that they would land in Weiser. The friend then informed the pilots that the runway would be cleared at Weiser.

The employee plowed down the length of the runway on the north side of centerline, beginning on the southeast end, and then turned around at the northwest end to go down the other half of the runway. The employee was unable to plow the entire length of the runway and had to stop. The unplowed section left an approximate 3 foot berm down the centerline of the remaining runway. The employee reported that he did not know how to or that he could have closed the runway. At the time of the accident, the airport did not have a manager employed.