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A M20T pilot mistook vehicle headlights on a road at the runway's end for the VASI and landed in the grass beside the runway.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 956511 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201106 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | M-20 TN Acclaim |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Landing |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 15 Flight Crew Total 2685 Flight Crew Type 2200 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Ground Excursion Runway |
Narrative:
I was performing night landing currency with runway lights on lowest setting; nearly off. The airport has a road parallel to the runway with a stop sign near the approach end of runway 17. Vehicles at the stop sign face approaching aircraft and block a pilot's view of the VASI. I turned final and mistook the headlights of a truck for the VASI and was concerned about both lights indicating my path high and my altimeter indicating about normal. As I passed the approach end I saw the real VASI; but touched down at runway edge on the grass; rolled to a stop; re-entered runway to exit taxiway. There was no damage to aircraft or pilot. The problem was caused by lack of concentration by pilot. I should have gone around when things were not correct.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A M20T pilot mistook vehicle headlights on a road at the runway's end for the VASI and landed in the grass beside the runway.
Narrative: I was performing night landing currency with runway lights on lowest setting; nearly off. The airport has a road parallel to the runway with a stop sign near the approach end of Runway 17. Vehicles at the stop sign face approaching aircraft and block a pilot's view of the VASI. I turned final and mistook the headlights of a truck for the VASI and was concerned about both lights indicating my path high and my altimeter indicating about normal. As I passed the approach end I saw the real VASI; but touched down at runway edge on the grass; rolled to a stop; re-entered runway to exit taxiway. There was no damage to aircraft or pilot. The problem was caused by lack of concentration by pilot. I should have gone around when things were not correct.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.