Airplane Was Down For Maintenance At Truckee Tahoe Airport

When more than 16 inches of heavy snow dubbed "Sierra Cement" fell in Reno earlier this week, it left a Cessna Citation X aircraft parked on the ramp at Truckee Tahoe Airport (KTRK) resting on its tail.

The weight of the snow accumulating on the airplane's horizontal stabilizers and engines pushed the tail of the airplane onto the ground, leaving it in a distinctly nose-up attitude. Aviation and community services manager for airport Mark Lamb, told the Reno Gazette Journal that the Citation X has "really massive engines in the rear, so they tend to be a little tail heavy anyway."

Normally, the airplane would have been moved off the airport when a heavy snowfall was forecast, but this particular Citation was down for maintenance, and could not be flown to a safer location. Lamb said that while there are new executive jet hangars at the airport, the Citation X was too large to be accommodated.

The other option was for the tail to be supported to prevent the nose from being lifted off the ground during such a snow event, Lamb said, but he was not certain that a tail stand had been put in place on the airplane before the storm began.

(Images posted to Facebook by Truckee Tahoe Airport)

FMI: Original report