Answers for Pilots

Hazards in the shadows

Night flying is not something to be taken lightly, or as Charles Lindbergh put it to Wiley Post in 1931, "I hope you either take up parachute jumping or stay out of single motored airplanes at night."

While pilots today don't necessarily have to take up parachute jumping in order to fly at night, AOPA's technical specialists say it is the wise pilot who thinks through the circumstances specific to these flights beforehand.

Night flight poses myriad challenges easily overlooked by the pilot unaware of the distinctions between daytime and nighttime flight. The nighttime pilot must fly without a clear horizon for reference, keep intense focus on cockpit instruments, and be keenly aware of potential dangers in the shadows, such as wildlife on the runway.

These issues and more are addressed in the recent AOPA publication Night Flying, which includes articles from Pilot and Flight Training magazines compiled by AOPA's Aviation Services department. Topics in the booklet, available free to members on AOPA Online or by calling the aviation specialists at 800/USA-AOPA (872-2672), range from preparing for engine-outs and other worst-case scenarios, to deciphering airport lighting systems, to understanding federal aviation regulations applicable to night flying.

"A lot of pilots don't fly as much at night as they do during the day. When you're dealing with a dark cockpit environment it becomes very difficult to watch the instruments and see what you're doing," says Larry Barnhart, AOPA technical specialist.

One of the chief hazards of night flight is spatial disorientation. When you fly at night, Barnhart says, the challenge is to focus on instruments "and not let your inner ear and mind tell you that you're straight and level when you're in a turn." As in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), you must rely on and trust your instruments.

The hazards are borne out by accident statistics. Of the general aviation accidents that occurred during night flight in 2001, 30.4 percent resulted in fatalities, compared to an overall fatality rate of about 20 percent for GA accidents, according to the AOPA Air Safety Foundation's 2002 Nall Report. Adding IMC to the mix nearly doubled the fatality rate for night flight.

The main requirements laid out by the FARs for night flight (with passengers) are straightforward: three takeoffs and landings in the same category and class of aircraft within 90 days. However, this won't prepare you for night flight, with or without passengers, Barnhart says. "You can meet the regulatory requirements every 90 days and still not be a proficient pilot at night."

And proficiency is important because an emergency can be compounded by darkness, he says. "You can't see the forest versus the plowed field at night without lights. You're going to have a very difficult time making a forced landing."

Failure to take such dangers as spatial disorientation and wildlife encroachment into consideration may result in an accident or incident, and having met the requirements of the FARs pertaining to night flight won't impress the investigators afterward. In the final analysis, it is the pilot in command's responsibility to use sound judgment.

As an AOPA member, you have access to the best resources anywhere for information and answers for pilots. AOPA provides information for its members through a vast array of communications technologies. You can reach experts in all fields of aviation via AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/members/), the AOPA Pilot Information Center (800/USA-AOPA), and e-mail ( inforequest@aopa.org). Aviation technical specialists respond promptly to member requests while AOPA Online provides members with access to information and resources 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The toll-free AOPA Pilot Information Center gives you direct access to specialists in every area of aviation. The center is available to members from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

AOPA Web resources

The Night Flying booklet includes articles on the subject from AOPA's magazines.
www.aopa.org/members/files/topics/night.html

Night flight requirements are covered primarily in FAR parts 61 and 91.
www.aopa.org/members/files/fars/far-61.html
www.aopa.org/members/files/fars/far-91.html

In "Never Again Online: Deer Incursion," Daniel E. Garriques recounts his experience hitting a deer during a night landing, and vows, "I will never again land at a lonely, unattended airport at night without first making a loud low pass."
www.aopa.org/pilot/never_again/2003/na0305.html

The Spatial Disorientation Safety Advisor addresses night flight in the section "Lost Horizon."
www.aopa.org/asf/publications/sa17.pdf

Aircraft accidents at night are more deadly than daytime accidents, according to the Nall Report.
www.aopa.org/asf/publications/02nall.pdf