After landing at cho at night; reporter was instructed to taxi to the ramp. Assuming that taxiway C ...

Narrative:

Landed on runway 3 at cho; exited on taxiway C. Time was 25-30 minutes after sunset; thus not officially 'night'; but it was very dark. Cho is in a mountain valley; and it gets dark quickly after sunset. I was unable to make out any features on the ground. Stopped at 'hold short' line on taxiway C. Tower - which was also serving as ground control - then advised; 'taxi to ramp.' no further communications from tower. Sitting on the taxiway; I saw the lighted FBO facility directly in front of me; and it appeared that the ramp extended to my position. However; at the end of taxiway C there is actually a strip of grass separating it from the FBO ramp area; which I was not aware of; and this grass has a downward slope towards the ramp; with a slight dip at the end. (At the next exit from the runway; taxiway D; by comparison; there is no such grass; and the ramp extends directly to the taxiway; I was not aware of this difference). I slowly taxied forward and ran off the taxiway and onto the grass. By the time I realized what was happening; the aircraft was sliding down the slope and across the dip at the bottom. Brakes were to no avail. As the aircraft went across the dip; the prop contacted the grass; and the tail dragged on the grass. The aircraft stopped a few feet forward; on the asphalt ramp.this mishap could have been avoided if either (1) I had studied the airport diagram more closely and noticed the grass strip between taxiway C and the ramp; or (2) tower had advised me to turn left or right at the end of taxiway C; onto taxiway a; instead of just saying 'taxi to ramp'. Talking with the tower controller afterwards; it became apparent that he was not following my movement on the field; for he remarked that he was not aware of the mishap until emergency vehicles came on the scene; and he had thought they were engaged in a practice exercise of some sort.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: After landing at CHO at night; reporter was instructed to taxi to the ramp. Assuming that Taxiway C continued to the ramp the reporter taxied straight ahead and down a grass slope through a dip then onto the ramp. Propeller struck the grass during the excursion.

Narrative: Landed on Runway 3 at CHO; exited on Taxiway C. Time was 25-30 minutes after sunset; thus not officially 'night'; but it was very dark. CHO is in a mountain valley; and it gets dark quickly after sunset. I was unable to make out any features on the ground. Stopped at 'hold short' line on taxiway C. Tower - which was also serving as Ground Control - then advised; 'Taxi to ramp.' No further communications from Tower. Sitting on the taxiway; I saw the lighted FBO facility directly in front of me; and it appeared that the ramp extended to my position. However; at the end of Taxiway C there is actually a strip of grass separating it from the FBO ramp area; which I was not aware of; and this grass has a downward slope towards the ramp; with a slight dip at the end. (At the next exit from the runway; Taxiway D; by comparison; there is no such grass; and the ramp extends directly to the taxiway; I was not aware of this difference). I slowly taxied forward and ran off the taxiway and onto the grass. By the time I realized what was happening; the aircraft was sliding down the slope and across the dip at the bottom. Brakes were to no avail. As the aircraft went across the dip; the prop contacted the grass; and the tail dragged on the grass. The aircraft stopped a few feet forward; on the asphalt ramp.This mishap could have been avoided if either (1) I had studied the airport diagram more closely and noticed the grass strip between Taxiway C and the ramp; or (2) Tower had advised me to turn left or right at the end of Taxiway C; onto Taxiway A; instead of just saying 'taxi to ramp'. Talking with the Tower Controller afterwards; it became apparent that he was not following my movement on the field; for he remarked that he was not aware of the mishap until emergency vehicles came on the scene; and he had thought they were engaged in a practice exercise of some sort.

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.

Attributes
ACN	850590
Time
Date	200909
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	CHO.Airport
State Reference	VA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft Low Wing 1 Eng Retractable Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 42 Flight Crew Total 1727 Flight Crew Type 1400
Events
Anomaly	Ground Excursion Taxiway

After landing at cho at night; reporter was instructed to taxi to the ramp. Assuming that taxiway C continued to the ramp the reporter taxied straight ahead and down a grass slope through a dip then onto the ramp. Propeller struck the grass during the excursion.