What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
The pilot encountered a downdraft on short final while landing to the west at a private airstrip. The down draft changed the pitch of the aircraft causing the sun to drop down into the pilot?s eyes, at which point his forward vision was obscured. The pilot held pitch and maintained power. He was concerned that adding power would cause him to land too FAR downfield and potentially into trees at the west end of the runway. The aircraft landed short of the runway and rolled backwards into a brush pile. There were no injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged.
As the FAA filed it
THE PILOT ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT ON SHORT FINAL WHILE LANDING TO THE WEST AT A PRIVATE AIRSTRIP. THE DOWN DRAFT CHANGED THE PITCH OF THE AIRCRAFT CAUSING THE SUN TO DROP DOWN INTO THE PILOT?S EYES, AT WHICH POINT HIS FORWARD VISION WAS OBSCURED. THE PILOT HELD PITCH AND MAINTAINED POWER. HE WAS CONCERNED THAT ADDING POWER WOULD CAUSE HIM TO LAND TOO FAR DOWNFIELD AND POTENTIALLY INTO TREES AT THE WEST END OF THE RUNWAY. THE AIRCRAFT LANDED SHORT OF THE RUNWAY AND ROLLED BACKWARDS INTO A BRUSH PILE. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE AIRCRAFT WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.