C441 pilot reported a taxiway excursion at night while the taxiway lights were intentionally off by ...

Attributes
ACN	1460037
Time
Date	201706
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 425/441 Conquest I/Conquest II
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 70 Flight Crew Total 13000 Flight Crew Type 600
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Ground Event / Encounter Object Ground Excursion Taxiway

Narrative:

I was taxiing to the main ramp at my home base. It was night time; rain showers had moved through the area prior to our arrival. It was a very dark moonless night with a lot of glare and reflection due to the rain that had fallen earlier. At this airport we have a military base. We actually got vectored all around to accommodate this [military aircraft] that was out flying. They landed ahead of us on a parallel runway. I had got my taxi instructions from ground control after landing. The taxi clearance was routine. As I crossed a runway prior to entering the ramp area I caught sight of our marshaller. I continued down the taxiway then made a turn towards the marshaller. As I started my turn I heard some banging sounds and realized I had left the taxiway. This all happened approximately 100 feet from where our marshaller was. The tower had failed to turn on the taxiway lights. It was later brought to my attention that the [military aircraft] was doing night vision goggle training. It is my understanding that is why the taxi lights weren't illuminated. I can guarantee had they been illuminated this would not have happened.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C441 pilot reported a taxiway excursion at night while the taxiway lights were intentionally off by the Tower for night vision goggle training by a military flight crew.

Narrative: I was taxiing to the main ramp at my home base. It was night time; rain showers had moved through the area prior to our arrival. It was a very dark moonless night with a lot of glare and reflection due to the rain that had fallen earlier. At this airport we have a military base. We actually got vectored all around to accommodate this [military aircraft] that was out flying. They landed ahead of us on a parallel runway. I had got my taxi instructions from ground control after landing. The taxi clearance was routine. As I crossed a runway prior to entering the ramp area I caught sight of our Marshaller. I continued down the taxiway then made a turn towards the Marshaller. As I started my turn I heard some banging sounds and realized I had left the taxiway. This all happened approximately 100 feet from where our Marshaller was. The tower had failed to turn on the taxiway lights. It was later brought to my attention that the [military aircraft] was doing night vision goggle training. It is my understanding that is why the taxi lights weren't illuminated. I can guarantee had they been illuminated this would not have happened.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

C441 pilot reported a taxiway excursion at night while the taxiway lights were intentionally off by the tower for night vision goggle training by a military flight crew.