PA20 struck a power line while approaching a dirt road for landing.

Attributes
ACN	761770
Time
Date	200711
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : zzz.airport
State Reference	US
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Piper Aircraft Corp Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Route In Use	approach : charted visual
Person 1
Affiliation	other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical ground encounters other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : executed go around
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance

Narrative:

During an approach to a dirt road to land; my aircraft struck some power lines. As they came into view I took action and tried to go under them. My left wing struck a power line causing minor damage to the wingtip. I aborted the landing and returned to my home field. The major cause of this incident was approaching to land without enough information on an unimproved surface and power lines going across a canyon without round line markers alerting aircraft operators. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter stated that the approach was into a dirt road within a canyon. The power lines spanned the width of the canyon; but were without markers. Only the wingtip was damaged in the incident.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA20 STRUCK A POWER LINE WHILE APPROACHING A DIRT ROAD FOR LNDG.

Narrative: DURING AN APCH TO A DIRT ROAD TO LAND; MY ACFT STRUCK SOME PWR LINES. AS THEY CAME INTO VIEW I TOOK ACTION AND TRIED TO GO UNDER THEM. MY L WING STRUCK A PWR LINE CAUSING MINOR DAMAGE TO THE WINGTIP. I ABORTED THE LNDG AND RETURNED TO MY HOME FIELD. THE MAJOR CAUSE OF THIS INCIDENT WAS APCHING TO LAND WITHOUT ENOUGH INFO ON AN UNIMPROVED SURFACE AND PWR LINES GOING ACROSS A CANYON WITHOUT ROUND LINE MARKERS ALERTING ACFT OPERATORS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE REPORTER STATED THAT THE APCH WAS INTO A DIRT ROAD WITHIN A CANYON. THE POWER LINES SPANNED THE WIDTH OF THE CANYON; BUT WERE WITHOUT MARKERS. ONLY THE WINGTIP WAS DAMAGED IN THE INCIDENT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.