What happened
During a local area personal night flight, the pilot observed lightning to the north of the aircraft's position and decided to return to the airport for landing. While established on a 2-mile final approach for runway 8, the aircraft settled and struck the ground.
The pilot reported that he believed he had encountered low level wind shear during the descent. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was flying at 6,000 feet MSL, while the elevation of the accident site was 5,689 feet MSL.
Weather conditions at the time included scattered clouds and 10 miles of visibility, with winds originating from 160 degrees at 18 knots. An airport located approximately 7 miles northwest of the accident site was operating functional low level wind shear alert equipment; however, this equipment did not trigger an alarm during the event. The pilot was not injured.