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A C172 pilot struck trees at 200' on final to a dark runway environment at night damaging the aircraft. The black hole effect caused him to misjudge his height and distance from the runway.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 859156 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200910 |
| 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 | Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Final Approach |
| Route In Use | Visual Approach |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 27.2 Flight Crew Total 292 Flight Crew Type 292 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Ground Event / Encounter Object Inflight Event / Encounter Object Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
On final approach under VMC and after executing a circle to land maneuver from an ILS runway xx practice approach. I was on final approach to runway xy at ZZZ with good runway visibility that night. However; I apparently misjudged my rate of descent and contacted the top of a tree; approximately 1200 ft from the threshold end of the runway. After applying full power and some nose up attitude; the plane was controllable and landed on runway xy. There was significant damage to the leading edge of both wings and the left horizontal stabilizer. Neither occupant was injured and no damage occurred on the ground. As far as contributing factors; pilot error was obviously the remain factor. The error was contributed to by the complete darkness of the ground area under the final approach (a golf course) and the narrowness of runway xy (75 feet). These may have contributed to an illusion of being higher than I was. A headwind of approximately 10 KTS was reducing my ground speed; so I was probably descending faster than I should have; thinking I was approaching the runway faster than I was. Although I am not blaming the lack of a glideslope (PAPI or VASI); there is no glideslope on this runway; although there is a glideslope on the other end of this runway. A glideslope would be helpful with very dark ground conditions on final approach. Also noteworthy was that I was flying the approach from the right front seat; with another instrument rated; private pilot in the left seat. I was doing this to practice right seat landing maneuvers. I don't really think this was a significant cause to the incident; but could be a factor. There were no human factors of fatigue; medications; alcohol; or anything else involved. This was my home airport and the night practice flying was all local. I had flown at night the previous night; although not to this runway approach. There were no other planes in the pattern at this airport at the time; so traffic was not a factor. There were no mechanical issues with the cessna 172 sp with garmin G1000 glass cockpit. I was current on my instrument rating and medical certificate.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A C172 pilot struck trees at 200' on final to a dark runway environment at night damaging the aircraft. The black hole effect caused him to misjudge his height and distance from the runway.
Narrative: On final approach under VMC and after executing a circle to land maneuver from an ILS Runway XX practice approach. I was on final approach to Runway XY at ZZZ with good runway visibility that night. However; I apparently misjudged my rate of descent and contacted the top of a tree; approximately 1200 FT from the threshold end of the runway. After applying full power and some nose up attitude; the plane was controllable and landed on Runway XY. There was significant damage to the leading edge of both wings and the left horizontal stabilizer. Neither occupant was injured and no damage occurred on the ground. As far as contributing factors; pilot error was obviously the remain factor. The error was contributed to by the complete darkness of the ground area under the final approach (a golf course) and the narrowness of Runway XY (75 feet). These may have contributed to an illusion of being higher than I was. A headwind of approximately 10 KTS was reducing my ground speed; so I was probably descending faster than I should have; thinking I was approaching the runway faster than I was. Although I am not blaming the lack of a glideslope (PAPI or VASI); there is no glideslope on this runway; although there is a glideslope on the other end of this runway. A glideslope would be helpful with very dark ground conditions on final approach. Also noteworthy was that I was flying the approach from the right front seat; with another instrument rated; private pilot in the left seat. I was doing this to practice right seat landing maneuvers. I don't really think this was a significant cause to the incident; but could be a factor. There were no human factors of fatigue; medications; alcohol; or anything else involved. This was my home airport and the night practice flying was all local. I had flown at night the previous night; although not to this runway approach. There were no other planes in the pattern at this airport at the time; so traffic was not a factor. There were no mechanical issues with the Cessna 172 SP with Garmin G1000 glass cockpit. I was current on my instrument rating and medical certificate.
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.