A 42-year-old Empire man died Sunday afternoon after a snowmobiling accident.

Roy D. Taghon was killed when the snowmobile he was driving hit a frozen snowbank on the runway at the Empire Airport at 12:49 p.m. According to the accident report prepared by the county Sheriff’s Department, Taghon was traveling south on the north-south runway behind two other snowmobilers when he hit the obstruction. Sheriff Michael F. Oltersdorf said Taghon’s visibility was limited due to snow the two machines in front of him had kicked up.

One of the skis on Taghon’s snowmobile caught on the top of the snowbank, causing the machine to turn over in the air, throwing Taghon off. The machine landed and rolled several times before it came to rest. Taghon landed several feet away from the machine. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The official cause of death, according to county Medical Examiner Dr. Matthew A. Houghton, Jr. was a rupture of the aorta, the largest chamber of the heart, with a collapse of the left lung caused by multiple left rib fractures and multiple interior injuries. Oltersdorf said alcohol was not a factor in the accident.