Plane Flips at Sunriver Airport; Pilot Unhurt
Cause Not Known, But Landed on Snowy Runway

By Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM
1:58 pm PST December 19, 2010

SUNRIVER, Ore. -- A small plane sustained minor damage, but its pilot was unhurt when it flipped onto its roof after landing on the snowy runway at Sunriver Airport Sunday morning, authorities said.
The report of an aircraft accident shortly before 10 a.m. brought Sunriver’s fire and police agencies, as well as Oregon State Police and Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies to the resort community’s airport, said Sunriver Fire spokesman Jim Bennett.
They arrived to find the single-engine Piper Cub upside-down about 20 feet from the main runway. The pilot, who had been alone in the plane, already was out of the plane, unhurt, Bennett said.
Initial information indicated the plane, which had taken off from Sunriver earlier in the morning, had just touched down and was slowing when it overturned and came to rest on its roof near the south end of the runway, Bennett said.
The pilot was able to get out and activate his fuel shutoff, the spokesman said. The pilot was unidentified, but FAA records indicate the PA-18-150 was built in 1976, and its registered owner is Robert Christensen of Sunriver.
The cause of the incident was not immediately known, and will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, Bennett said.
But he noted there was some snow on the runway at the time of the incident, with deeper accumulations surrounding the main runway.

We just had 6+" of snow here in Raleigh, and I was STRONGLY tempted to fly after it finished, but thought better of it, fearing exactly what seems to be described here. Had I more time, my next option was to make a few passes up and down the runway with my truck to pack down the snow and keep it from grabbing the 7.00x6's. I'm sure it would have been plenty slickety.

Hard to believe it here in the balmy southeast, but it got me to wondering about skis for the Stinson...