Accident Overview
The pilot conducted a visual flight rules (VFR) approach to land at night on runway 31. Witnesses reported the presence of a thunderstorm south of the airport, but at the airport the wind was light and only light rain was falling. During the landing, the aircraft initially impacted the runway at the approach end. Following this impact, the aircraft became airborne again and impacted the runway a second time farther down.
Examination Details
An examination of the runway disclosed that the initial impact occurred 29 feet from the threshold. The scrape mark from that impact was angled 10 degrees to the right of the runway heading. Evidence indicated that the left wing tip made contact with the runway near the approach end. Subsequently, the tips of the left propeller blades struck the runway surface. The aircraft then became airborne and traveled approximately 613 feet down the runway before crashing in an inverted attitude.
Propeller and Runway Lighting
At the second impact point, where the aircraft impacted inverted, the blade tips of both propellers were twisted and curled. Slash marks on the runway from both propellers were present at this location. A survey of the runway edge lighting revealed that, of 62 edge lights, 20 were inoperative or broken, and two were not visible due to tall vegetation.
Pilot Logbook
The pilot's logbook showed that the last recorded night time entry was dated May 5, 1981.