Piper PA-28 N47717 accident near Cottonwood, Arizona

Probable cause

The student pilot's decision to attempt a night landing on an unlit runway, which resulted in a misaligned approach and subsequent collision with a fence. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot's improper set-up of the airplane radios, which resulted in his inability to activate the airport runway lights, and his mistaken identification of building lights for runway lights.

NTSB analysis

During a cross-country flight, the student pilot was attempting a night landing for a fuel stop at an unattended airport and was unable to activate the runway lights via radio. He made one approach to runway 32, executed a missed approach, and then initiated an approach to runway 14. He conducted that approach based on two lights that he thought were the runway lights. When the airplane was very close to the ground, the pilot realized that the lights were security lights on a building and initiated a go-around. However, the airplane struck an airport boundary fence northeast of the runway and came to rest on a street outside airport property. The wings and fuselage were substantially damaged by the impact with the fence.

Postaccident examination revealed that the No. 1 communications radio in the airplane was set to the proper frequency to activate the runway lights but that the radio selector switch was set to the No. 2 communications radio, which was set to a different frequency. When power was applied to the airplane and the radio selector switch was set to the No. 1 radio, the runway lights were successfully activated. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR13CA219 for the full record.