This September 2008 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Aircraft: Piper Cherokee. Injuries: None. Location: Lakeville, Minn. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: The pilot, who was practicing night landings, said he was too high on final and reduced the power to idle and descended. The approach lights were on and the pilot reported that they were bright. He said that he was pressing the push to talk switch while looking at the lights and heard a loud bang. He stated the airplane porpoised and he then regained control and landed. The approach lights were damaged and the airplane sustained substantial damage.
Probable cause: The lack of clearance from the approach lights and the distraction of the bright approach lights during his night approach.
For more information: NTSB.gov
I am not a pilot and need an instructor in Kansas. Looks like ‘The Doc’
is the kind of instructor I am looking for after reading his comments here.
Doc are you in Kansas or nearby?
Regards,
Jerome
It is my belief, based on more than 5000 hours as a flight instructor, that this “pilot”, and I use that term loosely, received extremely poor quality flight instruction. Not only that, but he never was really very good at landings in the first place and a review of his logbook would reveal he was inconsistent in that operation, day or night. It is “where the rubber meets the road”, that is “telling” when difficulty arises in the “successful completion” of a night landing! The lights had nothing to do with it! The “proof” of that is; Why was he even looking that close to the nose of his aircraft, when conducting a night landing, a common mistake of “early-on” student pilots. I also suspect this pilot has very low flight time.
Moreover, I have observed the vast majority of “incidents/accidents” reported here, as one cause or another, are a direct result of poor flight instruction, thus piloting ability, primarily.
My gut tells me that it was lack of experience, and not the lights that caused this accident.