N28037Bellanca 17-30A · 1979

The private pilot was conducting a night visual flight to an airport with dim runway lighting. During the base turn and final approach, the pilot stated his attention was focused inside the cockpit as he rechecked the landing gear, mixture lever, and propeller lever positions. He noticed a sink rate had developed as the airplane's landing lights illuminated a row of 50-75 ft trees on the final approach.

The pilot pulled back aggressively on the yoke to clear the trees. The airplane continued to sink and impacted the ground with a high descent rate short of the runway, which damaged the fuselage and firewall. Following the accident, the pilot reflected that his attention should have been focused more outside the cockpit during the base turn and final approach. The pilot stated on the accident report form that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations.