BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Rocky Mountain College student pilot was trying to turn around in a rain and snow storm when the Piper airplane he was flying crashed in the Pryor Mountains about 40 miles south of Billings, a preliminary report on the crash said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said pilot Andrew Scheffer was conducting a solo, night, cross-country flight from Billings to Powell on March 25 in preparation for obtaining a commercial pilot certificate.

He left Billings at about 9 p.m. in clear weather conditions and was flying under visual flight rules. About 45 to 60 minutes into the flight, Scheffer encountered rain and snow. As he turned left to return to Billings, he received a terrain warning from the plane's global positioning system.

The NTSB report says Scheffer immediately pulled up and does not remember the impact.

The plane sustained substantial damage. The emergency locator transmitter was recorded at 9:52 p.m.

When Scheffer regained consciousness, he wrapped himself in space blankets from the plane's survival kit, eventually climbing into the tail of the plane because snow was falling in the cockpit, the report said. His cell phone didn't work at the crash site.

He set off two flares during the night and another one in the morning when he saw an airplane nearby, the NTSB said.

Scheffer climbed to the top of a hill where he was able to use his cell phone to call his flight instructor the morning after the crash. He also briefly was able to use the plane's radio to contact aircraft that were searching for him.

The NTSB said Scheffer climbed up the hill from the wreckage, using an orange tarp to increase his visibility. Once he was located, he hiked to a clearing where a helicopter picked him up.

The plane was recovered Wednesday morning.

Al Blain, whose family business Billings Flying Service, subcontracted to recover the plane, said "the aircraft was extremely destroyed."

The Piper Archer was removed in three pieces: a wing, the body with the other wing hanging by cables, and a cargo net full of "hundreds of bitty pieces" of debris, he said.

Blain said the plane clipped a minor ridge and then clipped trees as it crashed.

"He is a lucky, lucky, lucky, kid," Blain said. "He had God looking out for him. It literally sawed the seat off next to him."

Investigators will now examine the wreckage.

Rocky's Aviation Director Dan Hargrove said all training flights were running normally as of Monday, but said Scheffer hasn't been up in the air because he's been tied up with interviews with crash investigators.

He said Rocky and its insurance company will pay for the plane's recovery.

The NTSB report also notes that Scheffer attended the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division Winter Survival Clinic in January.