Piper PA28 N6143J accident near Blairsville, Georgia

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from trees during a visual approach for landing in night visual meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of recent experience flying at night.

NTSB analysis

The private pilot was approaching the airport for landing following a local personal flight in night visual meteorological conditions when the airplane impacted 60 to 70-ft-tall trees about 1/2 mile from the end of the runway. Although the runway lights were illuminated at the time of the accident, the runway was not equipped with a precision approach path indicator (PAPI) or visual approach slope indicator (VASI) light system.

Examination of the airplane and the engine did not reveal any preaccident mechanical discrepancies that would have precluded normal operation. A review of the pilot's logbook revealed that the pilot had not flown at night in just over four months preceding the accident.

It is likely that, in the absence of a PAPI or VASI system by which to judge the airplane's approach path, the sparsely-lit terrain off the approach end of the runway may have created an illusion that resulted in the pilot's descent into terrain short of the runway.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA19FA070 for the full record.