R

A V I A T I O N

S A F E T Y

F R O M

C O V E R

T O

C O V E R

INTO THE NIGHT

INTO THE NIGHT

by Phyllis Anne Duncan
The accident which occurred on
July 16, 1999, and which took the
lives of John F. Kennedy, Jr., Carolyn
Bessette Kennedy, and Lauren Bessette is one of those unfortunate reminders that we might need to take a
look at our night VFR proficiency. This
is the reprint of a two-part series on
VFR night operations wich appeared
in the October and November/December 1999 issues. Well discuss
preflight planning and preparation for
a VFR night flight (taking into consideration some areas that are not usually heeded), night operations, and
spatial disorientation. None of the information in either article should be
construed as having any bearing on
the as yet to be determined probable
cause of the Kennedy accident.
Editor

n my salad dayswhich are

longer ago than I care to admit
when I was accumulating hours,
I accepted a commission from
a friend to fly along to ferry an aircraft
from the east coast to the middle of
the country. My friend knew I wanted
to build time since I was, at the time of
the offer, a private pilot with not quite
100 hours. I was to do the planning
for the nearly 2,500+ mile roundtrip
flight, the flying, the navigating, etc.,
and he would sit there and relax, occasionally critique. The expenses
were being paid by the aircrafts
owner, so who would turn down that
opportunity?
The next goal in my aviation career was an instrument rating, and in
the early 1980s you had to have 200
hours total time before you could even
apply for an instrument rating. In my
mind, I had a dismally long way to go,
so the prospect of some real cross-

country experience in a complex aircraft and the addition of a good chunk

of free time to my logbook was too
much to pass up. (In 1986, FAA
changed the requirement to 125
hours total time and a private pilot
certificate, and in 1997 the requirements changed again to only having a
private pilot certificate.)
It turned out that getting my complex airplane endorsement was the
least complicated event during this
trip. Literally, everything that could go
wrong did go wrong, from a blown
magneto to being weathered in. The
best lesson for me was that I realized I
was in an airplane I wasnt really familiar with, in weather conditions I wasnt
ready for, on a trip that was more than
following a line marked on a chart. I
had the benefit of an experienced pilot
with me so that those lessons werent
learned the hard way.
The one leg that stands out in my
mind is a night-time takeoff from
somewhere in Mississippi and crossing Louisiana in the dead of a nearly
moonless, hazy, summer night. The
countryside we flew over was sparsely
populatedno city lightsand this
was after midnight. It was like being
immersed in an inkwell. It was black
out the windows, black when I looked
down. If I twisted and looked up
through the windscreen I could see
stars, but ground and sky met and
fused so completely that the natural
horizon was obscured, hidden,
nonexistent, or, in the parlance of my
youth, it warnt there. The weather
reports and forecasts dutifully
checked before flight indicated VMC
from Mississippi across to Texas.
That was my lesson in how insidious the onset of spatial disorientation
can be, not to mention that the

weather is never what you want it to

be. Obviously, this night flight was
successful because, well, Im here
nearly 20 years later to talk about it.
Would I be if I hadnt had that experienced pilot along? Speculation, of
course, but its something Ive wondered about every time Ive read or
written about or heard of an accident
attributable to spatial disorientation or
during a night VFR flight.
Is night VFR flight inherently dangerous? The answer is a qualified
No. To explain this, read the following quote from an article we published seven years ago called Doing
it in the Dark and written by FAA Aviation Safety Inspector and Safety Program Manager Bruce Edsten:
Probably the most important
item to be considered in planning a night flight is YOU, the
pilot. Flying at night requires
a bit more attention to the
task at hand than flying in the
daytime, so you want to be
sure you are up to it. [Emphasis added.]
A night VFR flight can be completed safely with good and careful
preflight planning and preparation and
with an attitude en route that you will
either 180 to a safe harbor if something deteriorates or call for assistance. Some people like flying at
nightless traffic at the airport,
smoother air, less workload on controllers so you have greater access for
practicing night landings or instrument approaches. There are many
advantages. And there are always
disadvantages: a lack of visual cues
for navigation, inability to see
weather, not to mention the possibility
(unlikely as it is) of the spine-tingling
engine-out or other aircraft emer-

gency at night.
To assure a safe night VFR flight,
take advantage of those advantages
and address the disadvantages before
you leave the ground. To do that
there are essentially four areas you
need to consider and plan for: the
pilot, the aircraft, the environment, and
the pressure of external influences.
Failing to consider or to prepare fully
for any one of these can be a recipe
for grief. Accidents, day or night, are
seldom a single, catastrophic occurrencedespite the media portrayals.
They are the result of a chain of
events that accumulate to the point
where pilot and aircraft can be overwhelmed. Break any link in that chain,
and you dont hang yourself.

Statistics and Accident Data

For the five years between January
1, 1994, and December 31, 1998,
there were 886 total general aviation
accidents at night. That is approximately 170 per year or about one-fifth
of the total general aviation accidents.
Of those nearly 900 accidents, we selected 10 at random which specifically
cited night VFR in the accidents narrative or as a cause or factor. Of those
10 random accidents, eight were fatal,
with 12 fatalities. Even if this random
sample can be extrapolated to all night
accidents, you can see that just like
continued VFR flight into IMC, night accidents appear to have a high fatality
rate.
The probable causes for these
accidents read like a primer on what
not to do and nearly everything that
can go wrong on a night VFR flight:
The pilots inadequate clearance above an unlighted ridgeline
in clouds and fog at night, and his
decision to not file an IFR flight
plan and his VFR flight into IMC
conditions.
The pilots failure to maintain
clearance from terrain. Factors
include the pilot inadvertently becoming lost/disoriented, the dark
night (minimum ambient light),
and mountainous/hilly terrain.
Continued VFR flight by the
pilot into instrument meteorologi-

cal conditions, and his failure to

maintain altitude and/or clearance
from high terrain. Factors relating
to the accident were: darkness,
low ceiling, fog, and high (mountainous) terrain along the route.
Failure of the pilot to maintain
sufficient altitude and/or clearance
from terrain while on a crosscountry flight at night. Factors relating to the accident were: darkness, the prevailing low ceilings,
and mountainous/hilly terrain.
The pilots decision to attempt
a takeoff with the runway lights inoperative, and his failure to maintain runway alignment during an
aborted takeoff, after failure of the
landing light. Factors relating to
the accident were: darkness, inoperative runway lights, failure of
the landing light, and the encounter with soft terrain.
The pilots inadequate preflight
planning/preparation by not obtaining a preflight weather briefing,
his VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his
failure to maintain control of the
aircraft after becoming spatial disoriented [sic]. Factors relating to
the accident were: darkness and
the pilots lack of recent experience in the type of operation
(night and actual instrument meteorological conditions).
The pilot becoming lost and
disoriented during a night VFR
flight in marginal weather conditions. Factors in the accident
were: the pilots lack of night flying experience, his failure to obtain a preflight weather briefing,
low ceilings, and his failure to reverse course to known clear
weather conditions when he first
encountered the low ceilings.
The pilots failure to maintain
proper altitude in the visual flight
rules (VFR) traffic pattern. Contributing to the accident were the
pilots failure to follow dispatch
procedures, the dark night conditions, and the unavailability of the
airports pilot-controlled runway
and precision approach path indicator lights.

Failure of the chase helicopter

to maintain clearance from the
lead helicopter during a night approach to land. Possible factors
relating to the accident were:
darkness and inadequate radio
coordination between flight crews
of the two helicopters.
Fuel exhuastion [sic] as a result
of the pilots [sic] improper fuel calculation and improper use of fuel
mixture.
Of the pilots involved in these 10
accidents, seven were private pilots,
two were commercial pilots, and three
were ATPs. (The numbers dont add
up to 10 because some pilots had
dual privileges, i.e., commercial privileges for some category and class of
aircraft, ATP or private for another.)
Total pilot time ranged from a low of
75 hours (private pilot) to nearly
18,000 hours (commercial, CFI). Coincidentally, neither accident involving
the low-time pilot or the high-time pilot
was fatal, but of the eight fatal accidents, five involved private pilots, only
two of whom had instrument ratings.
Of those two, one instrument rated
pilots lack of IFR proficiency was cited
as a factor in the fatal accident.
Again, these 10, random accidents are but a snapshot of night VFR,
but they do serve to show that the
margin of error at night is very slim if
you are unprepared.

Regulatory Requirements for

Night Flight
To conduct a flight VFR at night,
you must have specific fuel reserves
that exceed what is required for day
VFR. Namely, you must have sufficient
fuel to fly to the point of intended arrival and to fly for another 45 minutes
after that at normal cruising speed.
(FAR 91.151)
If youre already a certificated pilot,
to be pilot in command of an aircraft
carrying passengers at night (one hour
after sunset to one hour before sunrise), you must have had three takeoffs
and landings to a full stop at night
within the preceding 90 days. You
have to have been the sole manipulator of the controls during those three

I N T O T H E N I G H T

takeoffs and landings, and they have

to have been accomplished in an aircraft of the same category and class
and type, if a type rating is required, as
the flight youre about to take. The
three takeoffs and landings to qualify
for night recency of experience can be
accomplished in a flight simulator that
is approved for takeoffs and landings
and used in accordance with a course
conducted by a FAR part 142 training
center. (FAR 61.57)
Night training requirements for private pilot certification were increased
when FAR parts 61 and 141 were
changed in 1997. Now, in order to receive a private pilots certificate, during
your primary training you must have received at least three hours in night
flight training, including one crosscountry flight of over 100 nautical miles
and 10 takeoffs and landings to a full
stop at an airport. Each landing must
have involved a flight in the traffic pattern at an airport. To a full stop
means no touch-and-gos.
This begs the differentiation once
more between currency and proficiency. The more often you do something, the better you become at it.
Thats proficiency. As a pilot you can
opt to meet the minimum standards in
the regulations, and you will be considered current as far as the requirements
go. But are you proficient if all you do
every 90 days is three takeoffs and
three landings at night? Are you proficient if your last night cross-country
was the one you took to qualify for
your private pilot certificate? Are you
proficient if your only night experience
in the past two years consists of questions asked by an instructor during a
flight review?
Weve all heard the old adage that
a boat is a hole in the water you pour
money into, and a new aircraft owner
here in the editorial offices has extended that to the air: His Tripacer is a
hole in the air that he pours money
into. To me, thats part of the fun, but
why not put some of that money to another use? The new bells and whistles
are fine, but an hour of dual once a
month or so that includes some night
flying, a night cross-country, or some
hood time might be a better long-term

investment. If you have to choose between buying currency (recency of experience, that is) or buying proficiency,
proficiency is a sure profit.

International Comparison
How do the U.S. requirements
measure up against international ones?
That is a somewhat difficult comparison
on a country by country basis. Ninety
percent of the worlds general aviation
pilot population has access to VFR at
night. (Half of the worlds pilot population is in North America.) But the conditions under which night VFR can be
conducted do vary.
Annex 1 of the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) requires
extra training for night flight (minimum
three hours, maximum 10) that involves takeoffs and landings and navigation training. The requirements are
similar to the U.S. There is no ICAO
requirement for a night rating or an endorsement. Some signatories to ICAO
do not permit VFR at night in controlled airspace. Some require an instrument rating before a pilot can fly
VFR at night.
Our neighbor to the north,
Canada, requires the filing of a flight
plan for VFR at night, but Canada has
a great deal more sparsely settled territory than the U.S. Canadian regulations also require a night rating,
which consists of 10 hours of flight instruction at nightfive hours dual, five
hours solo. Two hours of the dual
must be cross-country, and during the
five solo hours there must be 10 takeoffs and landings. The pilot must also
have 10 hours of instrument training.
Canada also raises its VFR weather
minima for night flight.
In France, for another example, to
fly at night a pilot must have had night
training and an endorsement from a
flight instructor and three to five night
landings in the past six months. There
are two types of night flight: local airport flights and night VFR cross-country. For the latter, a flight plan is required, and the flight must be
conducted in a positive control environment. Pilots are also required to
follow a designated route (VFR and IFR

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traffic have separate routes) that has

specific reporting points.
Other European countries have
similar or more restrictive requirements. Italy and Switzerland are said
to have the most restrictive requirements for general aviation, period, not
just at night. The significant reason for
Europes more restrictive stance
stands out when you study a topographical map. Most of Europes geographic area is mountainous, unlike the
U.S. which has a huge tract of flat
space between its two major mountain
ranges.

The Pilot
If you turn back to the quote we
cited fairly early in this article, youll
note that THE most important aspect
of a night VFR flight is the pilot. As my
primary flight instructor used to say,
The airplane is metal and plastic and
has no brain. You do. The very first
aspect of planning your VFR night flight
is to sit down and realistically assess
YOUyour total experience and recency of experience as well as your
physical condition. Ask yourself the following questions, bearing in mind the
fact that youll be flying at night, VFR.

Experience/Recency
How many night takeoffs and
landings have you had in the last how
many days?
How many hours do you have in
the make and model aircraft youre
about to fly? How recent is that time?
If youre instrument rated, how
many instrument approaches have you
made recently? Were they simulated
or actual? When was the last time you
made an approach? Was it to minimums?
How many instrument flight hours
do you have? How recent is the time?
Was it simulated or actual?
How familiar are you with the terrain
youll be flying over at night? How familiar are you with the types of airspace
along your route or at your arrival?
Why all the questions about instrument time if this is a VFR at night
flight? One of your key skills in assuring a safe night VFR flight is the ability

to transition smoothly from flying using

visual cues outside the cockpit to flying
solely by reference to instruments.
Night flying can mean an obscured or
apparently nonexistent natural horizon
as well as the risk of flying into unseeable clouds, and an artificial horizon
and other associated instruments in
the cockpit are useless to you unless
you have proficiency in interpreting
them. An instrument rating may not
be required to fly at night VFR in the
U.S., but proficiency in flying solely by
reference to instruments is tremendous
insurance. And it comes cheapa
few hours flown regularly with a flight
instructor, and you have a skill that can
literally save your life.

Physical Condition
The possession of your medical
certificate means that you met the
standards for medical certification on
the date that the certificate was issued. Whether you are physically capable of safely operating the aircraft is
a day-to-day, perhaps hour-to-hour
self-assessment. Even after youve
determined that your experience and
your currency are appropriate for a
VFR night flight, ask yourself the following questions.
How much sleep have you had in
the past 24 hours? Was it restful, uninterrupted?
How much food and water have
you had recently? Will you be able to
make the flight without hypoglycemia
or dehydration?
When was your last alcoholic beverage? The rules say eight hours from
bottle to throttle, but some people
metabolize alcohol differently and may
require more time for their blood alcohol level to be within the requirements.
Are you taking any drugs or medications, prescribed or over-thecounter? When was the last time you
took them? Did your aviation medical
examiner approve their use?
When was your last illness? By
illness we mean colds, flu, upset
stomach, etc., as well as long-term
conditions.
What about the stressful events in
your life? Did an employee upset you
at work? Did an important project fall

through? Was the car ready from the

repair shop when it was supposed to
be? Did you have a row with your
spouse or a child? Were you late to
the airport? Was there traffic gridlock
on the way? Was a passenger late?
The questions in this area are infinite
because at any time, any event can be
a stressor, and stress can diminish
your physical performance.
The important thing to remember
here is that you want all of these
areasexperience and currency and
physical conditionto be optimum.
You might feel great, be stress-free,
but you havent flown at night in a
couple of months. You might not
only be current but also proficient at
night flight, but you had a bad day at
work or at home. Obviously, in your
planning you want to set standards
for yourself that may actually exceed
what the FAA requires. You may not
be 100% in both the above areas,
but if you meet the limits youve established for yourself then dont ex-

ceed them, the pilot is probably

ready to go.

The Aircraft
Well concede that your aircraft is
airworthy and equipped for a VFR
night flight. (If youre not certain of
what equipment is required for a night
flight, check FAR 91.205.) Lets take
a look at, again, possibly extending
those standards a bit.

Fuel Reserves
Earlier, we paraphrased the fuel requirements for VFR at night. The first
thing you need to consider is planning
your fuel stops if you dont carry sufficient fuel to make the destination in
one leg. Every person you add to the
cabin and every piece of luggage to
the baggage area reduces the amount
of fuel you can carry. You might want
to increase your fuel reserves beyond
what is required for VFR at night, unless, of course, you get a kick out of

I N T O T H E N I G H T

those night time, engine-out landings

in the middle of Nowheresville.
The night VFR fuel requirements
and reserves in the FAR are minimum
requirements, remember. If you exceed them, then you have increased
your safety margin. For example, if
this is your personal aircraft youre flying, youre very familiar with its fuel
burn, and your night navigation skills
are top notch, maybe a 45-minute reserve is sufficient.
But what if you were to plan the
night VFR flight as if it were an IFR
flight? For an IFR flight, day or night,
you need enough fuel to fly to your intended destination, from the intended
destination to an alternate (if required),
then to fly for another 45 minutes at
normal cruising speed. Think of the
safety margin if you plan your VFR
flight with an alternate, even if its one
you never intend to land at. That
would mean enough fuel to land at
your destination, then fly to the alternate, with a 45-minute reserve above
that! Think of the comfort factor as
well with that extra fuel. Your alternate
could be any airport along your
routean airport which you have confirmed has your type of fuel and will be
open during your night flight.
Yes, fuel is expensive, but accidents cost more. Moreover, the FAA
doesnt care if you exceed a standard.
And if youre within your weight and
balance considerations, there is no
such thing as too much fuel, especially
for a night VFR flight.

Experience in Type
How many takeoffs and landings
have you had recently in the make and
model aircraft you want to fly at night?
How many days ago was that? Even
among aircraft that are the same make
and model, wear and tear on the control rigging can mean slightly different
takeoff and landing characteristics.
You may be accustomed to a particular make of communications equipment or even to using a headset and
find yourself with an aircraft that has a
different radio stack and no intercom.
Of course, not having a headset
when you want it doesnt necessarily
mean that is a show-stopper to your

flight, unless that lack is so significant

to you that it becomes a stressor.
See, you, the pilot, could have arrived
at the airport experienced, current, and
in good physical condition, only to find
something you werent expecting with
the airplane. It may not even be
something that renders the aircraft unairworthy. The key is to assess and reassess how this will affect your VFR
night flight. If flying with a headset
makes you more comfortable, relaxed,
and aware, then you might want to reconsider your night flight if you cant
use one.
This may seem overly simplistic,
but in this day and age when the
slightest alteration in your driving
speed can induce road rage, you can
see how extrapolating something that
may seem trivial to the aviation environment can create a situation in the
pilots mind that may block good
judgement. And recall, too, weve
talked about the accident chain. That
lack of an intercom could be the first
link in that chain, especially if you aggravate yourself about it the entire
flight. Not being able to concentrate
because youve wrapped yourself
around a figurative axle over something minor is bad enough during the
day. Add the pressure of night flight,
and you may have pushed yourself beyond even the raised limits youve set
for yourself.

Aircraft Performance
Do you really want to take off on a
night VFR flight on a hot, humid night
with your aircraft so close to its maximum gross weight that if you have a
burger before you depart, youll be
overgross? Simplistic again, but as
the old aviation adage goes, always
leave yourself an out.
Have you distributed that load appropriately? Have you calculated the
density altitude and determined youre
within the performance of your aircraft? When was the last time you
used the performance charts, anyway?
Familiarizing yourself with all available
information before a flight, as required
by FAR 91.103, is an important and
necessary part of any flight, but expanding your personal definition of

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what is all available information beyond that listed in the FAR may be
more necessary and important for a
night VFR flight. Again, youre establishing a personal limit above that required by the FAA, and when you
make a commitment to stay within that
limit, youre self-assuring your safety.

Aircraft Equipment
Are you familiar with the avionics
package on the aircraft youre about to
fly at night? How much time do you
have using an autopilot? How familiar
are you not only with GPS but also
with the GPS unit in this aircraft?
Checking yourself out on new avionics
or on a GPS youre not familiar with in
the middle of a night VFR flight is not
the right time nor the place. It may be
as simple a decision as using the VOR
or NDB instead of the GPS.
Is the NAV/COM appropriate for
your flight? Are you familiar with its
operation? Are there any squawks
concerning it?
Do you have current charts? On a
day flight with no weather problems
you might get away with out of date
charts, but why take the chance, not
to mention that pesky FAR 91.103
again? For a night flight, what if an unlighted powerline has been added
along your route and its not depicted
on your out-of-date chart? Did you remember to check the Airport/Facility
Directory for changes to the chart?
Did you check NOTAM(L) and
NOTAM(D)?
Have you checked NOTAMS for
your route and destination? Are all the
airport lights in operation, all the
NAVAIDs working that youll need?
Have you checked the Airport/Facility
Directory to determine how you might
turn on the pilot-operated lights if
youre going to a non-towered airport?
Wow, that all available information
again. Obviously, the FAA put it there
for a reason, and its not to catch pilots
in non-compliance but to help you set
those limits for yourself. Now, thats
not to say we look the other way if an
accident or incident occurs because
you did not obtain all available information as outlined in that regulation.
For example, if youre computer-

literate and use an on-line weather

briefing service that does not provide
NOTAMS or facility information, is
that obtaining all available information? Depends. If that NOTAM contained information that you needed to
assure a safe flight, maybe not. All
the pretty radar pictures in the world
wont help if you get to a non-towered airport and dont know how to
turn on the pilot-operated lights or
didnt know the airport was closed
because a big construction crane is
sitting at the end of the runway. Daytime cuts you some slack in that scenario; night time doesnt.
Under aircraft equipment, you
also need to think about a couple of
other things you may not associate
with your aircraft. For example, what
does one wear to the airport these
days? Were not talking haute couture, but is what youre wearing conducive to perhaps a chilly (or sweltering) night-time preflight so that you
wont be tempted to cut it short? Or
are you dressed for a special occasion and dont want to get sweaty on
a hot ramp while preflighting for a
night flight? Dress in something that
is both comfortable and not worrisome for your preflight, and for the
flight as well. Were constantly going
back to your physical condition. If
your clothes are too tight, too hot,
too binding, too scratchy while youre
trying to fly, you wont have your full
concentration on your night flight.
You have to balance your comfortable clothing against your survival
considerations. This is the other aircraft equipment you may not give
much thought to. What type of survival gear do you have on board?
And are you dressed comfortably but
for the terrain you might have to walk
out of if you make an emergency
night landing? Do you have a flash
light in case the bulb burns out on
your landing light or your cockpit
lights fail? We cant go into a discussion of survival gear here (this is getting long enough after all), but there
are plenty of information sources
available to determine what you might
need for a night VFR flight over the
mountains, over sparsely populated

country, or over water. Expand your

limits and tap those resources.

The Environment
All right, you, the pilot, are set to
go, and the aircraft is set to go.
Whats next? The flight environment.

Airport Conditions
What are the environmental conditions not only at your destination airport but at your departure airport? Is
there a crosswind? Is the crosswind
component within your aircrafts capability? When was the last time you
practiced crosswind takeoffs and landings?
Have you calculated whether you
have sufficient runway length for landing? One tendency of pilots landing at
night is to stay high. If you land long,
will there be sufficient runway for braking? For a night flight you might want
to add a fudge factor to your takeoff
and landing distances. If the POH
says 500 feet for landing and rollout
over a 50-foot obstacle, at night, you
might want to increase that, again, as
a personal limit that youre not willing
to cross. Remember to use your altimeter to verify your altitude in the pattern and on final.

Weather
VFR weather minima are the same
for day or night VFR flights in Class A
through E airspace. In Class G airspace, the night VFR visibility requirements increase from one statute mile
to three statute miles. Below 1,200
feet AGL, the cloud clearance requirement increases from clear of clouds in
the daytime to 500 feet below, 1,000
feet above, and 2,000 feet horizontal
at night.
Above 1,200 feet AGL but below
10,000 feet MSL, the night cloud
clearance requirements are the same
as day500 below, 1,000 above,
2,000 horizontal. An exception to this
is when youre remaining in the traffic
pattern of an airport at night and within
one-half mile from the runway: You
can operate clear of clouds and with
visibility less than three miles, but not
less than one mile. For any flight away
from any airport, you must obtain

weather reports and forecasts. The

old aviation adage, If you want the
weather to change, just wait a minute,
is more truth than fiction. Departing
with a weather report or forecast that
is hours old is not good judgement,
and having current and frequently updated weather reports during a night
flight is essential.
The en route weather information
services are abundantas close as
Flight Watch on your radio, but during
preflight preparation, the key to safe
planning for a VFR night flight is to observe trends. If you begin obtaining
weather information during the day
time, and you notice that visibility continues to lower throughout the day as
haze increases, you can safely bet that
with the diminishing light, the haze or
other obstruction to visibility will still be
thereyou just cant see it. We can fly
above haze or a marine layer of fog and
have excellent visibility. The problem
arises when you have to descend
through it to land. You may still be perfectly legal and have your three miles at
night, but you can abruptly go from
having a visible horizon to not having
one. Again, if you are night or instrument proficient, you can transition easily to using your instruments to supplement the diminished visual cues.
Again, if the rules say three miles
but youre not night proficient or inexperienced at flying solely by reference
to cockpit instruments in an emergency, five or seven or 10 miles might
give you a safety margin. If the
weather reports and forecasts dont
support the personal limits youve established for yourself and your VFR
night flight, the safest solution might
be alternative transportation.
If, for whatever reason, you opt
not to communicate verbally to update
your weather information, you can always listen. Tune in Flight Watch, and
youre bound to hear other pilots along
your route requesting updates. You
can also tune in ATIS at towered airports along your route. As you get
closer to your destination, and you
hear from several ATIS that visibility is
diminishing at towered airports along
your route, you can extrapolate that
visibility is likely doing the same at your

I N T O T H E N I G H T

destination, especially if its being affected by the same weather system.

Nows the time for that not-requiredfor-VFR alternate. Bypassing airports
that you can safely get into to press on
to your destination, only to find yourself in a black hole is another example
of bad judgement. At the least, you
land short of your destination and rent
a car. At the worst, your executor gets
to read your will at an impromptu family gathering.

The Pressures of
External Influences
Trip Planning
When a friend and I used to plan
vacations via general aviation, we always tacked a day on at either end.
We didnt promise anyone that wed
show up for a specific time, and we
didnt schedule work events until after
that extra day. That way, there was
no pressure on us to have to arrive
someplace at the beginning or ending
of the trip. If something happened at
work, and we couldnt depart as
planned, then wed fly part way and
plan to arrive the next dayor we
didnt leave until the next day. In personal flying, this requires more flexibility than we sometimes allow ourselves. Particularly, if were driven,
Type A personalities at work, it is difficult to admit that we cant make
everything happen on cue for a flight.
Again, in the day time, you have a
built-in margin of safety, but if your late
departure for an event you simply must
attend pushes you into a night flight
that youre not prepared for (see all of
the above), you could miss more than
a family get-together. You could miss
the rest of your life.

Diversion or Cancellation
To alleviate some of that external
pressure, make certain everyone
knows that youll do your best to get
there. Explain this as well to any passengers youre carrying, and make
sure they do not make concrete plans
for themselves that they try to hold you
to. If they insist, remember you are the
pilot in command, the sole authority for
the safe conduct of the flight. Explain

as well that, if necessary, you might

have to land short of your destination
and find alternative means to arrive. If
youre going on vacation, this can
mean lost money in terms of canceled
hotel reservations and so forth, or
could cost you more if you have to buy
a last minute airline ticket, but all that
can be recouped. Lost lives cant.
The external pressures of friends
and family can be just as wrenching as
bosses or charter passengers who dont
understand a pilots decision not to push
into weather or a flight environment he
or she is not prepared for. Again, you
are the sole authority for the safe operation of that aircraft, and dont let anyone
take that from you. If you have to assert
yourself for safety considerations, and a
friend decides never to fly with you
again, you dont need that kind of friend.
The more important the trip is to you or
to a passenger who has influence over
you, the more tendency there is to compromise the limits youve worked hard to
set for yourself. In that case, it is just as
important to make sure you have an alternative in mind. Always leave yourself
an out, even if its before you leave the
ground.

Personal Equipment
To further ease some of that external pressure, always go prepared to
stay longer than you expected. Bring
contact lens solution along, extra medication, credit cards, and telephone
numbers of people you might have to
contact and tell youre going to be late.
Pressing onward into deteriorating
weather or into a night flight youre not
prepared for because you dont have a
phone number to call and say youre
going to be late could be the final link
in that accident chain.
.

Personal Minimums
Checklist
The concept of planning for the
Pilot, the Aircraft, the enVironment,
and External pressuresPAVEmay
seem familiar to some of you who have
participated in a seminar featured in
the FAAs Aviation Safety Program for
the past two years. Called Personal
Minimums Checklist, this program,

FAA Aviation News REPRINT

through guided discussion, gets a pilot

to think about each of those four factors and set personal limits for his or
her flying. Each participant gets a
checklist and is taken through a discussion of each item, then the pilot
sets his or her personal minimums.
We call it practicing conservatism without guilt, and weve given it quite a bit
of emphasis. The program was developed with the assistance of industry
trainers and psychologists who specialize in aviation human factors. Although not developed specifically for
night VFR flying, you could develop
two such sets of limitsone for day
and one for night.
For further information or to see
when a Personal Minimums Checklist presentation is scheduled for your
area or to get a copy of the checklist,
contact the operations Safety Program Manager at your local FAA Flight
Standards District Office. The presentation is also on the web at
< h t t p : / / w w w. f a a . g o v / a v r / n e w s /
asphome.htm>.

Night Operations
FAA's Flight Training Handbook,
a training guide for instructors and
students, has an entire section on
night operations. There are many
other commercial sources out there
which provide good advice for night
operations, but the Flight Training
Handbook contains the official FAA
"line." In its introduction to night operations, the Handbook echoes
what we said in above:
"Night operations differ from
daylight operations only by the
fact that vision is restricted at
night. As confidence is gained
through experience [emphasis
a d d e d ] , m a n y p i l o t s p re f e r
night operations over day operations because the air is
usually smoother, and, generally, there is less air traffic to
contend with."
That first sentence describing the
difference between day and night operations is more complex than it

sounds. Not only does the absence of

light mean a pilot sees less, but darkness also means your eyes respond
differently.
(NOTE: AC 61-21A, Flight Training
Handbook has been recently updated
and reissued as the Airplane Flying
Handbook, FAA-H-8083-3. It is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Call (202) 512-1800 for
price information.)

Night Vision
Human beings are long past the
time and place when we were nocturnal animals, if we ever were. If our visual anatomy now is basically unchanged from our paleo- and neolithic
ancestors, we were really bad nighttime hunters. There are many animals
in the world who see far better at night
than we ever will, even with the
human's use of night optical devices.
However, the human eye can be
trained or adapted to see better at
night, and if we as pilots understand
what the limits of our night vision are,
we can compensate. To go along with
that, if we keep ourselves healthy, we
keep our eyesight healthy, and that includes our ability to adapt to diminished illumination. Good eyesight can
be diminished by fatigue, a cold, vitamin deficiency, alcohol consumption,
stimulants (i.e., caffeine), smoking
(oxygen depletion), or even prescribed
or over-the-counter medications.
We think of night vision as teamwork
between the eyes and the mind, and
that teamwork goes back to the consideration of your physical and mental
condition of which we spoke. Your
mind may be sharp, you may be mentally ready for a night flight, but if your
eyes are not up to the task, you're not
ready. Conversely, if your eyes are willing and able, but your mind is not into a
night flight, again, your readiness is in
question.
There is a physical reason for this.
Our eyes are built to work differently at
night. If we understand that difference,
we can adapt and overcome the limits of
our night vision. On the back of the eye-the retina--there are thousands of "rods"
and "cones," which are light sensitive

nerves. They form a layer upon which

images are reflected. The rods and
cones connect to the optic nerve which
delivers the image to the brain for interpretation. That interpretation is nearly instantaneous. The cones are massed in
the center of the retina, and the rods surround the cones.
Cones detect color, minute details,
and faraway objects. The rods detect
grays and provide peripheral vision.
They also detect moving objects but
not detail or color. In daylight, the
rods and cones combine to give us
color vision, peripheral vision, and the
ability to see grays and moving objects. At night, the cones effectively
shut down, and only the rods provide
ambient, outside vision. This is a logical evolutionary adaptation: At night
in the absence of light, colors are
shades of gray anyway. However, if
there is sufficient ambient light at
night, like moonlight, the cones will
function, though the colors will not be
as distinctive as they are in full light.
Because the rods surround the
cluster of cones in the center of the
retina, in daylight you see an object
best by looking directly at it. At night,
in the absence of light, you'll best perceive an object in your peripheral vision because the rods are perceiving it,
not the cones. As a pilot you can't rely
on catching an object out of the corner
of your eye. Rather, you have to practice off-center scanning of your instruments and of your visual cues outside
the aircraft.
Our eyes can adapt to darkness.
The pupils dilate to let in as much light
as possible. To dilate to their maximum takes about five to 10 minutes,
during which time, night vision improves progressively. After that initial
five- to 10-minute adaptation, our eyes
are 100 times more sensitive to light.
After about 30 minutes, the rods become fully adjusted to the lack of light,
and when they do adjust they are
100,000 times more sensitive to light
than they were in the daylight. Once
full adaptation is complete, you can
see much more detail than in the early
stages of adaptation where only the
pupils dilate to let in what light is available. Night adaptation is completely

disrupted by even brief exposure to a

bright light, and that exposure can
cause temporary blindness, after images, and illusions. Moreover, the
adaptation process will have to start all
over again.
Night vision adaptation needs to
occur before flight, and, as indicated,
this can take up to a half hour. To be
able to see best at night, you need to
build this adaptation time into your
preflight planning. If you take off in the
daylight or twilight, the adaptation occurs in flight, clearly not the best option, but a situation where you have little choice. Because you are aware
your eyes are adapting from your
knowledge of the process, you can
even plan accordingly. For example, a
landing is probably better attempted
after full adaptation. So, if you've
taken off in light or twilight, a half hour
or so after full dark, you're adapted,
and your eyes can better deal with a
night landing.
Big caution here: After adaptation
has occurred you have to be careful
not to experience bright light, or the
adaptation is undone.
Here is a night vision "checklist"
that will help you make your night vision as good as possible:
If possible, avoid bright sunlight
before night flying, adapt the eyes
to darkness before flight and
keep them adapted.
If you have oxygen on board, use
it during a night flight. Since vision deterioration can occur at altitudes as low as 5,000 feet, oxygen will help your eyes function at
their best. If you're a smoker,
that threshold may be a great
deal lower than 5,000 feet, and
supplemental oxygen may not be
able to achieve a significant improvement.
When exposed to bright light,
close one eye. It will remain night
adapted.
Take your sunglasses off after
sunset, Joe Cool.
Move your eyes more slowly at
night.
Blink your eyes more often if your
vision becomes blurry.
Concentrate to see objects.

I N T O T H E N I G H T

 Force yourself to see "off center."

Maintain yourself in good physical
condition and avoid smoking,
drinking, and using drugs which
may be harmful to your vision.

Night Illusions
Seeing at night can induce some
unique illusions that don't occur during
day vision. The brain tries its best to
interpret what the optic nerve is feeding it, and what the brain perceives
may not necessarily match what you're
seeing. If you're night vision adapted,
for example, and are exposed to a
bright light, you get an after image that
can last for several minutes. This is
like the flash of a camera going off in
front of your face, and the resultant
blind spot is annoying. In a cockpit at
night, it can be dangerous.
The brain causes the illusions,
meaning you can misjudge objects that
would be easily recognized in daylight.
The slant of a cloud could be mistaken
for the horizon, or the lights of a city
street could look exactly like runway
lights. If the illusions are severe, disorientation can result. If you realize and
accept that such illusions can occur,
look twice at what you're viewing, and
properly interpret your instruments, you
can overcome the illusion.

There are other examples of night

illusions. If the night is clear, distant,
unmoving lights will look like stars or
even other aircraft. If you perceive
such a light above you and mistake it
for an aircraft, you could be led into
believing the horizon is below you.
You reduce your altitude and strike terrain or an obstruction. The creation of
a false horizon is one of the most serious night illusions. If the night is dark
(no moonlight or starlight), the real
horizon can be impossible to see.
Some have called this the "black hole"
effect, which can also affect both takeoff and landing. This is why being able
to fly solely by reference to the cockpit
instruments is an essential night flying
skill. If one of these illusions appears
to be a horizon, before you pitch to it,
check the artificial horizon. Trust it
more than the seat of your pants.
Oftentimes pilots at night focus too
intently on a single source of light.
Once that occurs, the light appears to
move. The phenomenon is called "visual autokinesis," and the trouble occurs when you perceive the moving
light as another aircraft, perhaps on a
collision course. As you turn to avoid
a collision with the phantom aircraft,
you contact terrain or become disoriented. Visual autokinesis can occur
after fixating on a light for only a few

10 F A A A v i a t i o n N e w s R E P R I N T

seconds. To prevent this, rather than

focusing on the single source of light,
expand your visual field, force yourself
to take in more of your surroundings,
and the light remains stationary.
Regulations require a certain number of outside aircraft lights to be on at
night for safety. But a strobe light can
be very distracting, especially when
you're maintaining legal distances from
clouds and you get "echoes" or reflections off the clouds. Internal cockpit
lights can flicker for a variety of reasons
and distract you from perceiving your
visual cues properly. The worst case
scenario is that a strobe or intermittent
light in the cockpit can cause flicker
vertigo, which can incapacitate you
through nausea, dizziness, grogginess,
headaches, or confusion. Severe
flicker vertigo can render a susceptible
pilot impaired or incapacitated.
Earlier we mentioned making an
approach to landing at night with
night-adapted eyes, and we also referenced the "black hole" effect where
you lose your horizon. Another "black
hole" danger can occur when you
make an approach to land from over
water or from over terrain which is unlighted. The runway lights are the only
source of light, and remember if you
focus on them too much, visual autokinesis can occur. The lights could

appear to float or move if you use

them for your only visual cues. When
we're first learning to land, we're
taught that many of our visual cues for
landing come from our peripheral vision and that it is important to move
our aiming point on the runway continuously ahead of the aircraft--a bit of
problem at night. At night, because of
the brightness or dimness of the runway lights, the runway could appear to
be closer or further away, upslope or
downslope. This, where electronic
navigation and being able to use your
cockpit instruments as a substitute for
your "missing" peripheral vision, is essential. Lighted or fluorescent-painted
VASI's or PAPIs, flying the glide slope,
interpreting the configuration of runway
lighting, and using flight instruments to
maintain proper orientation and height
above the ground can help you make
a normal night approach and overcome the black hole effect.
A couple of caution notes:
Approach lighting can be a good
visual cue at night, but you have
to be familiar with the configuration. Pilots have mistaken the
double row of approach lights for
runway edge lights. Because the
rows of approach lights are closer
together than runway edge lights,
pilots have landed short of the
runway at night, in the midst of
the approach light stanchions.
The visual illusion was that they
were too high, so they did not
heed the cockpit instruments and
reduced altitude, resulting in a
fairly classic controlled flight into
terrain accident.
When turning on pilot-operated
runway lights, listen to UNICOM
for traffic and other pilots activating the system. Judge very carefully when you turn them on.
Most of these systems are on a
timer, which turn them off after an
amount of time deemed reasonable for an approach and landing.
If you turn them on too soon,
they could cut off in the middle of
your landing. Trying to key the
activation sequence again is a
major distraction at that point.
Turn them on too late, and the

sudden flare of light can be a distraction as well. As part of your

preflight planning, a call to your
destination airport to determine
how long the pilot-operated lights
stay on will give you the information to know just exactly when
during your approach you should
turn the lights on.
After all this discussion of illusions
and distractions, night flight might seem
as frightening as the monsters under
our beds at night when we were children. As we grew, though, we realized
there were no monsters under the bed
(the closet could be a different matter),
and so it is with night flying. As our experience as pilots grows, that confidence develops, and a night flight can
be not only successful, but rewarding.

Pilot Equipment
FAR 91.205, Instrument and
Equipment Requirements, lists the required aircraft equipment for day or
night, VFR or IFR flights, but pilots
should consider one extra piece of
personal equipment that is fairly inexpensive and can be one of the most
important pieces of safety equipment
in the cockpit at night-provided the
batteries are fresh. We're speaking of
a flashlight, preferably one where you
can switch from white light to red. The
white beam can be used for night preflights and shouldn't disrupt your eyes'
night adaptation if you don't shine it directly in your face. The red beam can
be used inside the cockpit for reading
checklists and so forth since it won't
destroy your night adapted vision.
However, since some information on
aeronautical charts or checklists is
printed in red or a variation thereof, like
magenta, the red may not be visible or
may be difficult to read. Again, as long
as you're aware of this possibility, you
can adjust, switching between the two
beams as necessary to see all the information clearly.
There are many commercial flashlights out there, from ones which clip in
a shirt pocket or onto a blouse and
with a flexible neck to put the light exactly where needed to those on a lanyard that can be worn around the

neck. The ideal size is probably as

small as possible with as much light as
possible for the size. Select what
works best for you and make it a part
of your flight bag.
Needless to say, a spare set of batteries and a spare bulb in that same
flight bag is essential--and make sure
they're the right size for the flashlight.
Another aside here about night preflights. Preflight at night may take
longer to accomplish, but it is important
not to forego this inspection because
there is a lack of light. If you don't have
a flashlight--remember, it's not required
except on certain air carrier flights--try
to do the preflight in a lighted area. Of
course, if you do that, you'll have to
wait for your eyes to adapt, or re-adapt
as the case may be. This is why night
flights require attention to planning and
preparation and involve details that day
flights don't entail.
The appropriate and current aeronautical charts and other information
about airports are another important
piece of personal equipment for a
night flight. Cities and towns which
are prominent landmarks during the
day, may also be visible at night because of street and residential lighting,
but they may not be so easily identifiable. Only current charts can help you
with that identification. Here on the
east coast, for example, from Boston
to North Carolina there is nearly a constant run of city lights which merge
into each other. However, with current
charts and by checking landmarks
carefully and confirming them with
electronic navigation, you can safely
navigate VFR at night.
One of the night illusions associated
with city or town lights is just how far
distant lights can be seen at night, particularly in wide open spaces where the
towns are spaced apart. The lights
which may seem close may actually be
miles distant and not the town you've
planned to fly to. That is why electronic
navigation as a supplement is so important to a successful VFR night flight.

Airplane Equipment and

Lighting
In the previous subject we men-

I N T O T H E N I G H T

11

tioned FAR 91.205 and the requirements for night flight, and we listed
them fairly extensively, but here is a
good point to review aircraft position
lights and recall how we were taught to
interpret another aircraft's position relative to our own when viewing the trio
of lights at night. There is a red position light on the left wing, a green one
on the right wing, and a white one on
the tail.
A word about landing lights at
night: Like any needed item, landing
lights have been known to fail almost
exclusively at night. To build up your
confidence so that you know how to
deal with that minor emergency, consider taking some time with a flight instructor at night and practicing night
landings without the landing light. For
safety, pick an instructor who's experienced at night flight and an airport
you're familiar with for this practice.
That familiarity takes some of the edge
off and helps you build a skill that you
can call on when you're someplace
not so familiar.

Airport and Navigation

Lighting Aids
Again, let's review how we can recognize that we have indeed reached
an airport at night and not the parking
lot of a shopping mall. Airport locations are indicated at night by a rotating beacon. The beacon rotates at a
constant speed with a series of light
flashes in different colors to aid in identification. As an old middle school
teacher, I just can't resist those pop
quizzes. In this one, match the description of the rotating beacon with
the type of airport. The answer is at
the end of the article. Come on, this is
an easy one.
__Alternating white and green
__Two quick white then green
__Alternating white and yellow
a. military airport
b. civilian water airport
c. civilian land airport
White, green, and yellow are used
on airports to identify them and red
lights, either steady or flashing, denote

obstructions off airport that may be a

hazard to navigation. High intensity
white lights mark supporting structures
of powerlines or other tall structures
such as smokestacks or towers.
Runway lights themselves are
white, and taxiway lights are blue. Yellow lights outline a caution zone on a
runway, and sometimes the pilot can
adjust the intensity of runway lights, as
well as turn them on and off. A large,
busy airport at night can be a virtual
sea of lights, and understanding the
configuration of runway and taxiway
lights is essential for safe taxiing. All
the various, possible configuration of
approach, runway, and taxiway lights
are shown in the Aeronautical Information Manual, which is now on-line at
< h t t p : / / w w w. f a a . g o v / AT P u b s
/AIM/AIMTOC.HTM>.
All right, after all these cautions and
philosophizing, time to get down to it.
Let's examine a hypothetical night VFR
flight from beginning to end, and within
that fiction is knowledge so logical, you
may have overlooked it. What follows
may seem simplistic to a seasoned
pilot, but everybody can stand a review once in a while.

Preparation and Preflight

Preflight planning and preparation
have been themes running through
this article, and they just can't be emphasized enough, not just for night
flights, either. Statistics show that between 1995 through 1997, there were
46 night time VFR accidents which
had a probable cause concerning the
preflight.
Another good quote from the FAA's
Flight Training Handbook goes like this:
"Night flying requires that pilots
be aware of, and operate
within, their abilities and limitations. Although careful planning
of any flight is essential, night
flying demands more attention
to the details of preflight planning and preparation."
There's the simple logic I mentioned.
FAR 91.103, Preflight Action, has
that catch-all phrase, "all available information." Let's try to define what

12 F A A A v i a t i o n N e w s R E P R I N T

that might mean for a night VFR flight:

A thorough review of available
weather reports and forecasts,
with a good eye to the temperature/dew point spread. Any restriction to visibility complicates a
night VFR flight, and a narrow
temperature/dew point spread
means the possibility of fog. Fog
that you can't see because it's
dark, that you won't see until
you're in it.
A consideration of wind direction
and speed. During the day, you
can tell when wind is stronger
than forecast by its pattern on
crops or water, by the fact that
your landmarks come up slower
than expected. All of these
cues are more difficult to pick up
on at night.
Appropriate aeronautical charts,
including the appropriate adjacent charts. Draw your courseline in a heavier weight, and note
--maybe circle--prominent lighted
checkpoints. Mark as well any
obstructions to look out for, but
they make excellent visual cues
for navigation. Major roads can
still be distinguished at night, and
electronic NAVAID's along your
course should be noted as well.
Check that you have everything
you need in your flight bag before
flight--extra batteries or better yet
an extra flashlight.
Check your aircraft position and
anti-collision lights for operation
during the preflight, the landing
light as well. Check for loose
connection by tapping the light to
see if it flickers.
Last, but not least, do a walkaround of the immediate area of
the ramp or taxiway. Large FOD
is easy to spot in the daytime, but
not so easy at night.

Starting, Taxiing, and Runup

Preflight planning and preparation
are thorough and complete. Time to
get this trip underway. Before starting
the engine, arrange the items--charts,
flashlight, headset, pens, pencils--you
will need. Some duties, such as hold-

ing onto flashlights and charts can be

delegated to a passenger, but when
solo, get everything in order yourself.
You might also want to fold or unfold
your charts, as the case may be, to
your course and arrange them in the
sequence you'll need them.
So as not to tax your electrical
system before a night flight, don't turn
on all your electrical equipment before
starting the engine, just what you
need for safety: position lights or rotating beacon or strobes, for example, to alert others to aircraft movement. A final pass of your flashlight
outside the aircraft and around the
propeller area might be a good idea
as well before starting the engine.
Just because it's dark and quiet, perhaps, doesn't mean you shouldn't call
"Clear prop!" at night.
If you have taxi lights or you want
to taxi with the landing lights on, turn
them on only after you've started the
engine. Concerning the landing light-it helps your visibility tremendously but
in some aircraft if you operate it continuously at the low RPM's associated
with taxiing, the drain on the electrical
system can be severe. Slow taxiing
speeds can also mean the landing light
can overheat and fail. The Flight Training Handbook says to use them "as
necessary" during taxi, but be mindful
that other pilots may be night adapting
their eyes and don't need your landing
light to suddenly come on. Taxiing itself might need to be slower than what
you would do during the day to give
you time to see taxiway lines or lights.
That peripheral vision we have during the day also cues us when we're
letting the airplane creep during runup.
This is not so easily detected at night,
so alertness for this is another item on
the runup checklist. Hold the brakes
as heavily as you can to prevent forward movement.

Takeoff and Climb

Taxi and runup are on the numbers, and now you're faced with the
possibility of making a takeoff into a
dark night. Night time VFR accidents between 1995 and 1997 show
that you are more than five times as

likely to have an accident during the

takeoff and climb phase of flight (73
accidents) than you are during the
standing and taxiing phase of flight
(14 accidents). The use of your
cockpit instruments helps you not
only en route and on landing but on
takeoff as well. Adjust your cockpit
lighting so that the brightness doesn't overcome your night-adapted
eyes but not so dim that you can't
read the instruments. Just the right
level of cockpit lighting will let you
read and interpret the instruments
b u t w i l l n o t re f l e c t o n w i n d o w s
enough to distract you.
Taxi and landing light on, line up
on the centerline, and use the runway
edge lights as a visual cue. Check
the heading indicator to make sure it
reflects the runway heading. You can
use that to track the centerline if
need be. All the takeoff procedures
are the same as for daytime, but
you'll need to check the flight instruments more frequently to maintain
proper attitude, heading, and airspeed. At the appropriate airspeed,
adjust pitch for a normal climb and
verify using both cockpit instruments
and any outside visual cues, such as
runway lights.
Because you can't see the ground
move away from you as you can during the day, maintaining a positive rate
of climb can be done with the attitude
indicator and/or the vertical speed indicator, as well as the altimeter--three instrument sources of information to replace the visual source. At night as in
daytime, best rate of climb airspeed
should be used, except where best
angle is required. Because turns can
induce vertigo so quickly at night, wait
until reaching a safe maneuvering altitude before beginning turns and use
your instruments to verify that the turns
are coordinated. If you've taken off
with your landing light on, once you've
left the runway, it's of little use. To
save strain on the electrical system,
turn it off.

Orientation and Navigation

Aside from the daunting prospect
of taking off into the dark, night take-

offs vary little from daytime ones. The

same is true of navigation en route.
VFR at night can be done on instruments (however, the pilot is still responsible for see and avoid) or can
be a combination of pilotage and
dead reckoning as during the day, but
electronic NAVAID's are the best way
to keep yourself oriented at night, especially over areas where the night visual cues, such as prominent lighted
objects, may be scarce.
Probably the most significant
problem that can occur to a pilot
navigating at night is flying into
weather that you are unable to see.
When there are lighted landmarks to
see, you can look out for low clouds
or fog by noticing when lighted objects on the ground become dim or
obscured. The lights themselves will
have a halo or glow around them,
and when you spot that, continuing in
that direction is not a safe alternative.
When you're at altitude, above the
obscuration, it may not appear to be
as problematic as when you begin
your approach and inadvertently
enter a situation where you lose visibility. If that happens, again, the instruments can keep you straight and
level and assist you in making a 180
out of the area. Remember, also that
you have less visibility in fog and
clouds looking forward than you do
looking out the side window and
straight down.
Again, the Flight Training Handbook
states it simply but eloquently:
"Under no circumstances should
a VFR night-flight be made during poor or marginal weather
conditions..."
One of our veteran aviation safety
program managers, Mr. Scott Gardiner in Seattle, Washington, adds
this:
"There have been two occasions
in my own personal flying career
when I entered clouds while operating VFR at night. Both times I had
done a thorough preflight, including
extensive weather briefings. Both
times, I was convinced that there
would be no clouds along my route
of flight at my altitude. For example,
on one occasion, I would be flying at

I N T O T H E N I G H T

13

7,500 feet MSL, and the only rep o r t e d o r f o re c a s t c l o u d s w e re

above 20,000 feet MSL. And yet, I
entered clouds and never even saw
them coming. They were not serious clouds associated with a frontal
condition or thunderstorms. These
were rather benign clouds, still they
were big enough to require two to
five minutes to maneuver out of
them. The reason I did not see the
clouds coming is--it was night time.
Very dark, moonless nights over uninhabited terrain."
How to overcome this potential
threat if night time prevents us from
seeing clouds?
Training. Practice. Training. Experience. Training. Detecting a pattern?
For VFR at night, being competent
at straight and level flight and being
able to make coordinated turns may
not be enough. You need to be competent at those maneuvers as well as
climbs, descents, climbing and descending turns, steep turns, and recovery from unusual attitudes--all by
reference to instruments. Again, you
may be absolutely proficient at these
maneuvers, even unusual attitudes, in
the daytime, but you perform these
maneuvers usually by referencing outside visual cues, supplemented by the
cockpit instruments. At night, your recovery depends on your ability to interpret the instruments properly and trust
what they are showing over the physical sensations you're experiencing.
We've done plenty of articles on the
physical causes of spatial disorientation, so we're not going into the
anatomy of the inner ear here, but to
be a proficient night VFR pilot you
must be able to understand that your
perceptions of reality and the reality
presented by your instruments may be
in conflict. The reality presented by
your instruments is what you have to
follow to operate safely. The only way
you can be successful at this is to be
trained properly and to practice until it
becomes instinctual. Even then, you
have to maintain proficiency at flight
solely by reference to instruments, or
the instinct fades.
If your night VFR flight takes you
across a large body of water, and par-

ticularly if you're in a single-engine aircraft, you have to be even more cautious, your planning even more thorough. Ditching in the water at night is
actually the least of your concerns,
given lack of depth perception, the
black hole effect, lack of orientation,
maritime weather conditions, and so
on. Even when the night is clear, and
the stars bright, they can reflect on the
water and turn up into down unless
careful attention is paid to the instruments.
Given all that, you've successfully
completed the en route portion of your
VFR night flight and are now in range
of your destination airport. This seems
to be the most hazardous phase of
flight. Between 1995 and 1997 there
were 223 night time VFR accidents
during approach and landing.

Approaches and Landing

Sometimes we overlook the obvious because it is there in front of us.
For example, the FAA's Flight Training
Handbook again offers some simple
wisdom:
"Every effort should be made to
maintain the recommended airspeeds and execute the approach and landing in the same
manner as during the day."
Airspeed is airspeed day or night,
but possibly the biggest hindrance to
accomplishing a night approach the
same as during the day is a lack of
depth perception and the accompanying inability to judge distance. Yet
again, the cockpit instruments, particularly the altimeter, is a partial substitute for your depth perception. Of
course, that gives you vertical distance
and not forward, and we've already
discussed the illusions that approach
lighting can create when fixating on
them to try and judge distance. The
key is to fly an exact traffic pattern,
one of proper size and direction for the
airport in question, and your instruments will help you do that.
On final, align yourself midway between the rows of runway lights.
Some airports have lighted centerlines,
and this is something you should have
determined during preflight so that you

14 F A A A v i a t i o n N e w s R E P R I N T

don't line yourself up between the centerline lights and one set of runway
edge lights by mistake. A stabilized
approach works at night just as in the
day, as do the use of flaps. During a
night approach, the landing light is
turned on about halfway down final.
Any higher than that, and it's nearly
useless in lighting any object for you.
In fact, it may reflect off terrain, like
water, and back into your eyes, undoing your night-adapted eyes just when
you need them the most.
An inexperienced night pilot tends
to flare too high, possibly because of a
fear of contacting terrain he or she
can't see. To overcome this, maintain
a stabilized approach until the landing
light shows the runway. At that point a
good identifying cue for the flare are
the tire marks on either side of the
centerline. Landing technique from
flare on to touchdown is the same as
for the daytime.
If for some reason you have no landing light or you and your instructor are
practicing landings without the landing
light, sighting the runway end lights at
the far end of the runway is the cue for
the flare. When they appear to rise
higher than the aircraft's nose, time to
roundout. You may have to "feel" for the
runway with a bit of power and pitch,
but the point is to use what visual cues
you have to complete the landing successfully. Remember not to fixate on
any lights used as visual cues for a night
landing because of the visual autokinesis phenomenon.
Safely landed at last! There is one
more consideration we need to talk
about, and that is emergencies. Daytime emergencies are stressful enough
and can be dealt with through training
and proficiency. A night time emergency is something no pilot wants to
experience, in theory or reality.

Night Emergencies
The thought of an engine-out emergency at night and having to make an
off-airport landing as a result can bring
sweat to the palms of even the most
seasoned aviator. However, accident
statistics show that failing to deal with
an engine-out emergency at night is

not among the top accident causes.

(Continuing flight into adverse weather
and poor pilot judgement are the top
causes.) The old flight instructor
adage, "Remember to fly the airplane,"
applies equally for day or night emergencies, and as during the day, you
will find that being busy dealing with
the emergency will take your mind off
the fact that it is at night. This confidence and ability comes only with...?
You got it. Practice.
Here are some things that the FAA
recommends you keep in mind in an
engine-out emergency at night:
Fly the airplane, as we've already
said, or as the Flight Training
Handbook puts it, "Maintain positive control...and establish the
best glide configuration and airspeed."
The temptation at night is to "go
toward the light," but that usually
means a congested area with lots
of obstacles and persons and
property on the ground. The ideal
locale for an emergency landing is
always an airport, day or night.
Your charts are an essential tool in
locating a nearby airport. If you
know the terrain or can make a
good determination from your
charts, head for an unlighted area
and plan your emergency landing
for there. If you're close to some
type of public access--a road, a
railroad track, and so on--try to
land as close to that as possible
for ease of help getting to you or
your going for help.
Follow your emergency checklist
and the manufacturer's recommended procedures to try and diagnose the problem and attempt
an engine restart.
Communicate your situation on
UNICOM or to air traffic control.
121.5 is always available.
As in the daytime, land into the
wind, and complete the before
landing checklist. Check your
landing light to see if it is still operative and turn it on to show the terrain or obstacles. Again, just as
with an emergency landing during
the daytime, at night land as normally as possible and at the slow-

est possible airspeed. If you have

no landing light and no visual references, maintain a level landing attitude and fly to ground contact.
After the landing, the procedures
to secure the aircraft are the same
as for day flights--turn off all
switches and get out of the airplane as quickly as possible.
We haven't said much about flight
plans for night flights. After all, a flight
plan in and of itself does not prevent
an accident; it merely gets the search
and rescue started sooner when you
don't show up. When you've just
made an emergency landing at night,
perhaps in the middle of nowhere, a
filed flight plan can give a feeling of
comfort and optimism.
This also brings to mind the importance of a functioning ELT. Even if your
emergency landing technique is good
enough not to set the ELT off on contact, you need to switch it to "ON" to aid
rescuers. And what better time to mention the benefits of being accurately and
swiftly pinpointed by a 406 MHz ELT?

Conclusion
We've shown that a VFR night
flight can be completed with thorough
planning and preparation and by a
well-trained and proficient pilot. Give
some thought on how to become that
pilot, well-trained and proficient
enough to deal with a VFR night flight.
In recent years, the FAA has made it
incredibly easy to obtain an instrument rating. No longer do you have
to accumulate a certain number of
hours, for as soon as you earn your
private pilot certificate you can begin
your instrument instruction.
So, why not? Likely if you can afford the average 70+ hours of instruction to receive your private pilot's certificate, the additional hours of
instrument training are just as affordable and well worth the effort. Experienced pilots within and outside the
FAA have called the instrument rating
"the cheapest insurance you can buy."
Accident statistics tend to confirm
that: accident rates among instrument
rated pilots between 400 and 1,000
hours are considerably less than those

for non-instrument rated pilots at the

same experience level. After my instrument rating I really felt as if I had a
better feel for an airplane and definitely
more confidence in being able to handle marginal weather situations.
In this article I've beaten to death
the concept that VFR night flight can
be successful every time if the pilot is
thoroughly prepared and trained for
night operations. You can be proficient at flight solely by reference to instruments without obtaining an instrument rating, but an instrument rating,
judiciously used, can also open another aspect of aviation to you. Getting an instrument rating was also
some of the most fun flying I had experienced (seaplane rating has to be
tops), and with the ease of obtaining
an instrument rating now, there may
be no good excuse not to get it.
There are many highly experienced,
very competent, non-instrument rated
pilots out there who will likely disagree,
and they can make their case as well
as I've tried to make mine. I believe
that aviation is an opportunity to grow
and learn continuously, and the truly
good pilot learns something from
every flight. Obtaining the instrument
"ticket" is an important step in your
continuing aviation education.
We climb mountains because
they're there. We participate in extreme sports for the incredible rush.
Earning an instrument rating that could
save your life or your passengers' lives
is more reasonable in some ways than
"because it's there" or "because it's a
rush." However, earning an instrument
rating because it's available or because
it's fun is as good as excuse as any.
Instrument rated or extremely proficient at instrument flight, the night sky
awaits, and, if you've done everything
you need to do, it can be a flight experience both challenging and sublime.

Quiz answers: c, a, b

I N T O T H E N I G H T

15

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of Transportation
Federal Aviation
Administration
800 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20591

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