What happened
The aircraft was conducting an instrument landing system (ILS) approach at night. Visibility conditions were reported to be greater than 10 miles, providing ample visual reference. The pilot successfully navigated the approach down to the published decision height. Instead of executing a missed procedure or aborting the landing, the pilot elected to continue the descent visually.
As the aircraft descended below safe altitudes for the terrain and infrastructure, it collided with the approach lighting system. The impact severed the landing gear assembly. Following this initial collision, the aircraft continued forward, striking a blast fence located near the runway threshold. Additional approach lights were damaged in the subsequent sequence before the aircraft finally came to rest short of the runway.
The investigation
Post-accident examination and pilot interviews revealed several contributing factors. The pilot acknowledged that he may have been distracted by lights from an interstate highway situated just prior to reaching the runway environment. This visual distraction likely contributed to the failure to maintain proper altitude awareness during the critical phase of the final approach.
Additionally, the pilot reported experiencing fatigue resulting from a long day and approximately seven hours of continuous flying time. Despite the visual approach slope indicator being operational and providing correct glide path information, these aids were not sufficient to prevent the controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) event caused by the described distractions and fatigue.
Findings
The primary factors leading to this accident include the pilot's decision to continue the approach below decision height without adequate visual references to the runway environment. Contributing elements were pilot distraction due to external lighting sources and fatigue from prolonged flight operations. The mechanical damage was consistent with a collision with ground-based approach lighting structures and a blast fence.