What happened
During an approach to an airport where official sunset had occurred at 1703, the pilot attempted to land an aircraft under conditions without available runway lights. To maintain orientation with the runway, the pilot relied on surrounding ground lighting and illumination from a nearby open company hangar.
The flight involved multiple attempts to land. During the first final approach, the pilot initiated a go-around due to an improper setup and poor visual references. On the second approach, the pilot aligned the aircraft with what was believed to be the runway centerline. During this phase, the pilot looked down inside the cockpit to verify that the landing gear extended lights were illuminated. Upon looking back outside, the pilot's vision was obscured.
A third go-around was attempted; however, the aircraft touched down short of the runway. The aircraft collided with desert brush, which resulted in the nose landing gear being sheared off, damage to both wings, and a twisted fuselage. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the aircraft following the impact. There were no injuries reported.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the sequence of events during the landing attempts and the environmental conditions at the time of the accident. It was noted that the airport lacked runway lighting for night operations, forcing the pilot to rely on secondary light sources for runway alignment.