Narrative:

At approximately XA30pm I landed on runway 31 at fmy; and after bringing the aircraft to a full stop I notified the tower controller I wished to taxi to the FBO for fuel. He stated to turn left at a and taxi towards the ramp. From where I landed it was not possible to see the FBO; so I taxied down a until I could see the FBO and turned left towards the ramp. After turning left towards the building; I made the next right turn; which I thought was leading to the ramp. While taxiing to the fuel ramp; now within view in the distance; I felt the front landing gear have a strange feeling. I immediately applied full braking; but at that point the aircraft had begun its descent into the drainage culvert and could not be stopped. After making impact with the concrete culvert I immediately turned off all electrical and pulled the fuel cut-off valve and exited the aircraft. I noticed damage to the propeller and what appeared to be some minor damage to the front gear. I met with both the lee county fire-rescue and port authority police and gave them my information. During my examination of the surrounding area of the incident; I noticed a tall concrete light pole approximately 20 ft from where the aircraft made contact with the culvert and noticed the light was intended to provide lighting to the ramp and the FBO area. It had three very large floodlights on top of it; but all three lights were not on at the time of the incident. I observed several other light poles of the same design located in various areas of the airport and all other lights were functioning. I pointed this fact out to the FBO personnel; fire rescue; and the port authority. I was informed by airport personnel that this exact same ramp area had been the scene of at least two other aircraft incidents. One was a cessna 310 that hit the same concrete culvert that I impacted; the other aircraft was a corporate jet aircraft that went off the grass; but was able to stop and get towed out prior to striking the concrete. I believe this area of ramp creates a danger area that was a major contributing factor to this incident. In the future I will more carefully observe taxi diagrams and request exact and progressive taxi instructions; and will better familiarize myself with airport diagram prior to landing or taxiing. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the actual location of the culvert is near the south end of the western most hanger on the south ramp and airport personnel are familiar with its location. Better lighting would make a big difference but there is a defect in the lighting system that the airport has been unable to repair. Eliminating the culvert entirely would be the best option.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 pilot reports aircraft damage after taxiing into culvert in the south Ramp at FMY. Ramp lighting in the area is inoperative.

Narrative: At approximately XA30pm I landed on Runway 31 at FMY; and after bringing the aircraft to a full stop I notified the Tower Controller I wished to taxi to the FBO for fuel. He stated to turn left at A and taxi towards the Ramp. From where I landed it was not possible to see the FBO; so I taxied down A until I could see the FBO and turned left towards the Ramp. After turning left towards the building; I made the next right turn; which I thought was leading to the Ramp. While taxiing to the Fuel Ramp; now within view in the distance; I felt the front landing gear have a strange feeling. I immediately applied full braking; but at that point the aircraft had begun its descent into the drainage culvert and could not be stopped. After making impact with the concrete culvert I immediately turned off all electrical and pulled the fuel cut-off valve and exited the aircraft. I noticed damage to the propeller and what appeared to be some minor damage to the front gear. I met with both the Lee County fire-rescue and Port Authority police and gave them my information. During my examination of the surrounding area of the incident; I noticed a tall concrete light pole approximately 20 FT from where the aircraft made contact with the culvert and noticed the light was intended to provide lighting to the Ramp and the FBO area. It had three very large floodlights on top of it; but all three lights were not on at the time of the incident. I observed several other light poles of the same design located in various areas of the airport and all other lights were functioning. I pointed this fact out to the FBO personnel; fire rescue; and the Port Authority. I was informed by airport personnel that this exact same Ramp area had been the scene of at least two other aircraft incidents. One was a Cessna 310 that hit the same concrete culvert that I impacted; the other aircraft was a Corporate Jet aircraft that went off the grass; but was able to stop and get towed out prior to striking the concrete. I believe this area of Ramp creates a danger area that was a major contributing factor to this incident. In the future I will more carefully observe taxi diagrams and request exact and progressive taxi instructions; and will better familiarize myself with airport diagram prior to landing or taxiing. Callback conversation with Reporter revealed the following information: The actual location of the culvert is near the south end of the western most hanger on the south Ramp and airport personnel are familiar with its location. Better lighting would make a big difference but there is a defect in the lighting system that the airport has been unable to repair. Eliminating the culvert entirely would be the best option.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.