Piper PA-28-161 N3024Z accident near Wildwood, New Jersey

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from trees during approach. Contributing to the accident were the dark night conditions.

NTSB analysis

The pilot of the PA-28-161 was making a straight-in visual approach on a "very dark" night. He reported that the precision approach path indicator (PAPI) showed "glide good with two white and two red," and the altimeter indicated 1,000 feet mean sea level (msl) when he was approximately 2 miles north of the airport. The pilot did not reference the altimeter or PAPI again, and did not turn on the landing light. The runway was equipped with high intensity runway edge lights, which the pilot activated. About 1/2 mile from the airport, he could see car headlights on the road just before the airport fence. Upon hearing a "loud bang" and feeling an impact with trees to the right wing, the pilot applied full power, pulled back on the yoke, and the airplane rolled right. He was able to climb the airplane and achieve wings-level flight with the application of full left aileron. He flew a traffic pattern and returned to land with "heavy left aileron and rudder."

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for NYC08CA200 for the full record.