N5554Z

On Saturday, March 4, 1995, at 1550 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-22-108, N5554Z, collided with a snow bank during an attempted go around over runway 15 at the Belfast Municipal Airport near Belfast, Maine. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was uninjured. The airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and a flight plan was not filed for the local flight. The solo instructional flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

The student pilot reported that the airplane "...was on final and about to touchdown in middle of runway. All of a sudden I was close to the left side of the runway and realized I was having problems. I was concerned that my wing would catch the 4' [foot tall] snow drift (from plowing) so I decided to make a go around and try again. Either my wing tip or nose wheel caught the 4' [foot tall] snow pile and flipped me over."

The student pilot estimated the winds at the time of the accident to be "...approximately 8 knots from the south." He wrote, "Must have had a gust from [the] west." The pilot also reported that there were four foot snow drifts running along both sides of the runway.

The student pilot wrote under the Recommendation (How Could This Accident Have Been Prevented) section on his accident report, "It would not have happened if snow banks were not so high."