A general aviation pilot reported clipping a tree on final approach to hpn runway 29. Darkness and t...

Narrative:

I was conducting stop-and-go practice at night at white plains (khpn) airport for the purpose of gaining night currency. Winds were 290; approximately 10g20. ATIS mentioned landing runways as runway 34 and runway 29. I chose runway 29 as it was more aligned with the wind. I took off runway 29 and flew a left traffic pattern. I was cleared to land on runway 29. On final; I found myself lower than needed and I clipped the top of a tree. I subsequently conducted an immediate go-around; [advised the] tower; and landed the airplane normally on runway 34. I was alone in the airplane. There was no bodily harm of anyone; nor was there property damaged on the ground. The airplane was damaged. The likely cause of the problem in my opinion is that it is extremely difficult to conduct a normal approach to runway 29 at night; as there is no VASI light; and the threshold is displaced by a very large distance in order to account for tall trees that border the airfield. Before taking off; I looked for an approach to runway 29 in order to get an approach profile as a backup; but found there was no such approach (very likely due to the nonstandard configuration of obstacles close to the runway end.) in my opinion; runway 29 should be closed at night for landing.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A general aviation pilot reported clipping a tree on final approach to HPN Runway 29. Darkness and the lack of a VASI were reported as contributing factors.

Narrative: I was conducting stop-and-go practice at night at White Plains (KHPN) airport for the purpose of gaining night currency. Winds were 290; approximately 10G20. ATIS mentioned landing runways as Runway 34 and Runway 29. I chose runway 29 as it was more aligned with the wind. I took off Runway 29 and flew a left traffic pattern. I was cleared to land on Runway 29. On final; I found myself lower than needed and I clipped the top of a tree. I subsequently conducted an immediate go-around; [advised the] Tower; and landed the airplane normally on Runway 34. I was alone in the airplane. There was no bodily harm of anyone; nor was there property damaged on the ground. The airplane was damaged. The likely cause of the problem in my opinion is that it is extremely difficult to conduct a normal approach to Runway 29 at night; as there is no VASI light; and the threshold is displaced by a very large distance in order to account for tall trees that border the airfield. Before taking off; I looked for an approach to Runway 29 in order to get an approach profile as a backup; but found there was no such approach (very likely due to the nonstandard configuration of obstacles close to the runway end.) In my opinion; Runway 29 should be closed at night for landing.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1420973
Time
Date	201701
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	HPN.Airport
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft Low Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 18 Flight Crew Total 511 Flight Crew Type 5
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Object Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

A general aviation pilot reported clipping a tree on final approach to hpn runway 29. Darkness and the lack of a VASI were reported as contributing factors.