On arrival overhead Minlaton, at the lowest safe altitude of 1600 feet above mean sea level, the pilot identified the town and airport. A visual descent to 500 feet above ground level was continued as the aircraft joined the circuit for runway 33. The pilot flew a tight circuit and after aligning the aircraft on final looked into the cockpit for a final check of the power settings. When he looked out he had lost sight of the runway lights and before he could take corrective action the aircraft struck the ground about 800 metres before the runway threshold. The left outer wing struck the ground and then a fence and was broken off, the landing gear was torn off and the aircraft came to rest after a ground slide of about 75 metres. The pilot was uninjured and vacated the aircraft unaided. A second aircraft which arrived overhead Minlaton a short time after VH-CRT, advised Adelaide of the accident. The pilot of this aircraft then held in the area for about 20 minutes because of poor visibility and light before a landing could be accomplished.