A RV9 pilot struck a 41 ft AGL power line 1;500 ft from the runway's end on a night approach and sus...

Attributes
ACN	971897
Time
Date	201109
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	RV-9
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25 Flight Crew Total 1896 Flight Crew Type 43
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Other / Unknown Inflight Event / Encounter Object

Narrative:

On short final at night I clipped the power line. Another pilot looked at it from the ground as I made a low pass down the runway. He told me I had a wheel pant damaged and in the dark was all he could see. Plane was handling fine and not knowing exactly what all was damaged I decided to go to another airport with a longer runway. I went to an airport with a 4;202 X 75 vs. 3;156 X 48. Landing was uneventful damage to the plane was mostly cosmetic. This problem could be prevented by burying the power lines at the north end of the runway. In the airport directory it shows pole lines marked with reflectors but they are not!

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A RV9 Pilot struck a 41 FT AGL power line 1;500 FT from the runway's end on a night approach and sustained slight damage but diverted to a nearby airport with a longer; wider runway where a safe landing was made.

Narrative: On short final at night I clipped the power line. Another pilot looked at it from the ground as I made a low pass down the runway. He told me I had a wheel pant damaged and in the dark was all he could see. Plane was handling fine and not knowing exactly what all was damaged I decided to go to another airport with a longer runway. I went to an airport with a 4;202 X 75 vs. 3;156 X 48. Landing was uneventful damage to the plane was mostly cosmetic. This problem could be prevented by burying the power lines at the north end of the runway. In the Airport Directory it shows pole lines marked with reflectors but they are not!

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.

A RV9 pilot struck a 41 ft AGL power line 1;500 ft from the runway's end on a night approach and sustained slight damage but diverted to a nearby airport with a longer; wider runway where a safe landing was made.