Narrative:

I was to take a multi engine student on a cross-country night flight. This was to be my first student as I recently finished up (over last 6 months) my cfii; CFI; and mei. I was not current with my night landings in the twin comanche; so I needed to make two more landings. I waited until after dark to fly the night landings; solo.during the first takeoff; everything was going well [with] gear up [and] 25 squared on the initial climb after reaching 600 feet AGL. I was using the GPS to help keep situational awareness to the runway. While making my turn to downwind; I lost the runway on the GPS map. I then became distracted trying to zoom in and out on the display; but I still did not see the airport on the map during the turn. I conducted an initial cgumps check; backed the power down to 17 inches mp; and then lowered the gear. I could not identify the field visually at this time either. I then tried programming the GPS direct to ZZZ. I believe I programmed in the wrong airport because I remember the course line showed it pointing to a destination around [a] different state.then; I saw what I thought were the runway lights for runway xxr which were at my 4 o'clock position looking over my right shoulder. I then pulled the power back to 15 inches mp; lowered the flaps to half; and started to make my turn from downwind to base. The lights I saw disappeared as I continued my turn towards final while continually searching for the lights. I noticed I was flying in a 'black hole' as ground lights disappeared. I immediately went to instruments and realized I was at an altitude of 450 feet MSL. I immediately went through the procedure of 'power up;' 'pitch up;' and 'clean up.' note: this is where I must have clipped into the tops of the trees; although I did not think I ever hit anything at this point. After reaching approximately 900 feet; I called the tower and stated I lost visual with the runway and asked for vectors. After turning to an assigned heading to the right about 20 degrees; I then plugged ZZZ into the GPS correctly. I was then given another heading to the left of about 10 degrees. While climbing back to 1;300 feet; I was then able to clearly make out the whole airport environment. I went through the cgrumps procedure; and the rest of the landing was uneventful.after I taxied off the runway; I taxied back to the hold short line of runway xxr. There were several aircraft landing so I had about 10 minutes to think about what happened. I made sure ZZZ was still plugged into the GPS and reminded myself to focus on headings and altitudes. The next trip in the pattern was uneventful.after my second landing; I taxied up to the front of the terminal building and shut down to pick up my student. I felt I should walk around the plane before we departed. Then I noticed some leaves in the right main landing gear. A further check of the plane showed a few leaves in the right main gear; one or two in the nose gear and about 10 in the left main gear. Additionally; we found the propellers had a green color on them. I was shocked. I thought through if I could actually hit something in the air. There were no noticeable noises that got my attention while flying. Then; I thought I may have hit something while taxiing. I called the tower and told them I may have run over some foreign debris on the runway. The student and I pushed the plane back to the tie down; and I grounded the plane.after I got home; I cleared my head and reflected on what happened; multiple times. I came to the conclusion that the odds of me [hitting] a branch on the taxiway were very slim; and I had to have hit the trees while in the air. Thinking back; I may have heard light swoosh sound when I was low; but nothing caught my attention that I hit something while I was trying to find the airport and climbing back up to pattern altitude.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Piper Twin pilot reported that during a night landing; the aircraft came in contact with the tops of trees.

Narrative: I was to take a multi engine student on a cross-country night flight. This was to be my first student as I recently finished up (over last 6 months) my CFII; CFI; and MEI. I was not current with my night landings in the Twin Comanche; so I needed to make two more landings. I waited until after dark to fly the night landings; solo.During the first takeoff; everything was going well [with] gear up [and] 25 squared on the initial climb after reaching 600 feet AGL. I was using the GPS to help keep situational awareness to the runway. While making my turn to downwind; I lost the runway on the GPS map. I then became distracted trying to zoom in and out on the display; but I still did not see the airport on the map during the turn. I conducted an initial CGUMPS check; backed the power down to 17 inches MP; and then lowered the gear. I could not identify the field visually at this time either. I then tried programming the GPS direct to ZZZ. I believe I programmed in the wrong airport because I remember the course line showed it pointing to a destination around [a] different state.Then; I saw what I thought were the runway lights for Runway XXR which were at my 4 o'clock position looking over my right shoulder. I then pulled the power back to 15 inches MP; lowered the flaps to half; and started to make my turn from downwind to base. The lights I saw disappeared as I continued my turn towards final while continually searching for the lights. I noticed I was flying in a 'black hole' as ground lights disappeared. I immediately went to instruments and realized I was at an altitude of 450 feet MSL. I immediately went through the procedure of 'power up;' 'pitch up;' and 'clean up.' Note: this is where I must have clipped into the tops of the trees; although I did not think I ever hit anything at this point. After reaching approximately 900 feet; I called the Tower and stated I lost visual with the runway and asked for vectors. After turning to an assigned heading to the right about 20 degrees; I then plugged ZZZ into the GPS correctly. I was then given another heading to the left of about 10 degrees. While climbing back to 1;300 feet; I was then able to clearly make out the whole airport environment. I went through the CGRUMPS procedure; and the rest of the landing was uneventful.After I taxied off the runway; I taxied back to the hold short line of Runway XXR. There were several aircraft landing so I had about 10 minutes to think about what happened. I made sure ZZZ was still plugged into the GPS and reminded myself to focus on headings and altitudes. The next trip in the pattern was uneventful.After my second landing; I taxied up to the front of the terminal building and shut down to pick up my student. I felt I should walk around the plane before we departed. Then I noticed some leaves in the right main landing gear. A further check of the plane showed a few leaves in the right main gear; one or two in the nose gear and about 10 in the left main gear. Additionally; we found the propellers had a green color on them. I was shocked. I thought through if I could actually hit something in the air. There were no noticeable noises that got my attention while flying. Then; I thought I may have hit something while taxiing. I called the Tower and told them I may have run over some foreign debris on the runway. The student and I pushed the plane back to the tie down; and I grounded the plane.After I got home; I cleared my head and reflected on what happened; multiple times. I came to the conclusion that the odds of me [hitting] a branch on the taxiway were very slim; and I had to have hit the trees while in the air. Thinking back; I may have heard light swoosh sound when I was low; but nothing caught my attention that I hit something while I was trying to find the airport and climbing back up to pattern altitude.

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.