Small aircraft flies into ground at night. Pilot survives uninjured.

Attributes
ACN	162583
Time
Date	199011
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : 1k7
State Reference	KS
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 100
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft, Low Wing, 1 Eng, Fixed Gear
Flight Phase	cruise other landing other
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : cfi pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 71 flight time total : 2146 flight time type : 174
ASRS Report	162583
Events
Anomaly	conflict : ground critical inflight encounter : vfr in imc inflight encounter : weather non adherence : far other spatial deviation
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Consequence	faa : investigated other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Flying from harper to fredonia with FSS report at ict 3500 and 10 mi. Lowest point en route 2000 and 4 mi. This was true until the 30 mi point from fredonia and suddenly the cloud lowered. As I lowered to keep forward vision, I heard a crunch and the airplane slowed to about 80 mph. I immediately switched on landing light still having full power. The light illuminated a pasture and seeing no obstructions I dropped the power to idle and landed the airplane. Upon T/D, the airplane skidded and rotated to the left about 1/4 turn due to damaged landing gear. Landing and skid was smooth with no injuries. I know my first reaction should have been to climb and retract my course instead of trying to keep visibility.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SMA FLIES INTO GND AT NIGHT. PLT SURVIVES UNINJURED.

Narrative: FLYING FROM HARPER TO FREDONIA WITH FSS RPT AT ICT 3500 AND 10 MI. LOWEST POINT ENRTE 2000 AND 4 MI. THIS WAS TRUE UNTIL THE 30 MI POINT FROM FREDONIA AND SUDDENLY THE CLOUD LOWERED. AS I LOWERED TO KEEP FORWARD VISION, I HEARD A CRUNCH AND THE AIRPLANE SLOWED TO ABOUT 80 MPH. I IMMEDIATELY SWITCHED ON LNDG LIGHT STILL HAVING FULL PWR. THE LIGHT ILLUMINATED A PASTURE AND SEEING NO OBSTRUCTIONS I DROPPED THE PWR TO IDLE AND LANDED THE AIRPLANE. UPON T/D, THE AIRPLANE SKIDDED AND ROTATED TO THE L ABOUT 1/4 TURN DUE TO DAMAGED LNDG GEAR. LNDG AND SKID WAS SMOOTH WITH NO INJURIES. I KNOW MY FIRST REACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN TO CLB AND RETRACT MY COURSE INSTEAD OF TRYING TO KEEP VISIBILITY.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.