NTSB Factual Report

On March 11, 2005, at 1215 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172A, N4682G, nosed over and came to rest inverted on a snow covered runway at Blue Canyon-Nyack Airport, Emigrant Gap, California. West Valley Flying Club was operating the privately owned airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The pilot departed from San Carlos Airport, San Carlos, California, at 1047 for the personal cross-country flight.

According to the pilot, he planned a flight from San Carlos to Emigrant Gap using an electronic flight planner. At 0815, on the morning of the accident, the pilot checked DUATS and then called Rancho Murrieta Flight Service Station (FSS) and requested a standard weather briefing. The pilot departed and while en route to his destination, called Flight Watch to file a pilot report (PIREP) and to receive an additional weather briefing. Upon arriving in the airport vicinity, the pilot circled the airport three times. He noted that the runway 33 numbers were visible and that the remaining 3/4 of the runway was covered in snow. Visually, the snow did not appear to be of any great depth. Based on the reported winds, the pilot decided to perform a touch-and-go takeoff and landing on runway 15. As the airplane touched down, the landing gear entered the snow and the airplane nosed over. The airplane came to rest inverted in the snow; the vertical stablizer and rudder were bent. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane prior to the accident.

The Airport Facility Directory Southwest (AFD/SW) contains the following entry, in part, for Emigrant Gap, California: "CLOSED winters due to snow."

In a telephone conversation, the pilot reported that he reviewed the AFD/SW but did not read the "Remarks" section of the Emigrant Gap entry.

NTSB Probable Cause

the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and his selection of an unsuitable landing area, resulting in an encounter with a snow-covered runway.