N1813W – Beech F33A – 2005-11-12 NTSB Accident Report

On November 12, 2005, a Beech F33A (N1813W) was involved in an incident near Montgomery, NY. All 3 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot's misjudgment of the landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing short of the runway. Factors included the night lighting conditions, the time-out and reestablishment of the high intensity runway lighting, and the pilot's failure to go around.

The pilot was making a night visual approach to an airport when, on short final, the pilot-activated runway lights timed out. The pilot re-activated the lights, which came back on at a high intensity that "adversely affected [her] night vision and depth perception." During the time the lights were out, the airplane descended below the glide path, and by the time she realized it, the pilot felt that she could not have successfully executed a go-around because "the aircraft would have most likely lost lift and stalled." According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, the airplane then landed "short and hard." No airplane mechanical anomalies were noted.

This incident is documented in NTSB report NYC06CA031. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N1813W.