What happened
The aircraft was involved in a nighttime landing attempt at an unlighted airport under dark conditions. The pilot initiated an approach toward a row of vegetation, which he incorrectly identified as the runway. As the aircraft descended to a low altitude, the pilot attempted to correct his trajectory by veering toward the actual runway position to align with the centerline.
During this maneuver, the aircraft impacted the ground before reaching the airport environment. The crash occurred due to the pilot's inability to visually distinguish the runway from surrounding terrain features in the absence of lighting.
The investigation
Review of the flight history indicated that the pilot had no recent night flight time. This lack of recent experience likely contributed to the difficulty in navigating and identifying landing zones during low-visibility conditions. The airport's lack of lighting systems further complicated the visual approach, forcing reliance on unaided vision.
Findings
The primary factor in this accident was the pilot's misidentification of a vegetation line as the runway. Contributing to this error was the dark night environment and the absence of runway lighting at the destination airport. The pilot's lack of recent night flight experience reduced his ability to safely execute the approach under these challenging visual conditions.