Incident Details
A pilot conducting an instrument landing system (ILS) approach behind mixed jet and turboprop traffic reported encountering an extreme downdraft. The aircraft's vertical speed increased from approximately 500 feet per minute (fpm) to about 1,200 fpm. The pilot attempted to recover by adding full power, increasing pitch attitude, and reducing the flap setting from 25 degrees to 10 degrees. However, the sink rate could not be sufficiently arrested. The aircraft subsequently struck two approach lights and a localizer platform located about one-quarter mile from the runway.
Pilot Actions
The pilot reported that about 20 minutes of the 30-minute flight had been conducted in clouds. The aircraft's Pilot Operating Handbook (POH), a PA-32RT-300, states that flaps should be slowly retracted only when a positive climb rate is established when initiating a go-around from a landing approach.
Other Aircraft Reports
A Beech 99 that landed approximately two minutes ahead of the incident aircraft reported no problems on approach. An air carrier flight that landed about 10 minutes earlier reported experiencing "lots of rime ice."
Weather Conditions
The freezing level at Nashville was reported as 900 feet above mean sea level (MSL) at 1750 Central Standard Time (CST).