Pilot Short Story | Into the Dark
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- Опубликовано: 21 июн 2023
- An instrument-rated pilot and his family depart Martha’s Vineyard Airport over the vast Atlantic and into the dark of a sun-settled sky. Confused by his sudden lack of visual reference, the airman faces a critical decision.
NOTE: The animation may not depict the exact events of the flight.
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Hello, I'm the pilot in the video, and my actual experience was nowhere near as extreme as the simulation depicts (I had no control over how the simulation came out). During my flight, I never got to the stall horn (not even a chirp); my bank was never larger than 10 degrees, and my 2 non-pilot passengers didn't even notice anything out of the ordinary. Still, I wanted to share the story because I don't feel that, as a community, flight requirement instruments in clear VMC is something that is discussed very often. I think my experience can also provide more insight into the startle effect; I have a deeper appreciation of how trained and experienced pilots can, when they're surprised, end up doing things that are difficult to understand in retrospect. I learned to fly in the SF Bay Area, and the density of homes and roads means that night flights in good weather are not that much harder than day flights in terms of visual cues. I was not expecting that there would not be any streetlights, cars or lit homes near the KMVY airport, so I was not expecting to have to go from visual references to instruments. Even though my flight profile probably never deviated from a "normal" envelope, I thought of sharing the experience because I can imagine how the sudden loss of visual references could cause someone to react impulsively. I got my IFR rating in 2014, and it definitely helped me appreciate the situation that was developing, because a delayed or impulsive reaction could have been dangerous. Hopefully this flight presents a scenario that is not easy to anticipate and that others can benefit from.
Non pilot aviation enthusiast, this was a great explanation of loss of visual which can occur with night flight especially over water, moonless or obstructed light etc. Glad it had a good ending. Thank you - even if the sim was a bit overstated..
as a pilot, even momentary loss of spatial orientation is very scary experience and awfully risky, even without stall warning or large bank angles. I had a similar experience when I was reading the map and writing into my navigation log, while my student pilot flew the airplane straight and level under some unassuming clouds - then I noticed a strange noise, looked up and had lost the idea what is where, because there was no horizon anywhere, the noise was heavy rainshower and it was blocking the windscreen completely. I instinctively wanted to grab the stick to take control, and pull up to safety but then I remembered the saying, that in case of emergency, first thing is to "sit on my hands", so as to give the situation a bit of calm rational action and not to make things worse. I checked the airtifical horizon, and we looked OK according to that. I also acquired ground contact on the side downwards, which also helped to restore my understanding of where is up and down. After about 10 seconds, we were out of the curtain of rain and it was all good again, but the lesson was that spatial disorientation can set in in a matter of seconds basically, and one needs to avoid dramatic actions. My student pilot later confessed that he was very scared when he accidentally entered the rainshower, but he also restrained himself from doing aggressive manovers and just let the trimmed airplane keep flying.
Seems that one should just fly an IFR flight plan at night when you have a lack of visual reference. I believe Mexico requires all nighttime flying to be IFR only which makes sense lot of the country is rural and lacks lights. I could see this happening over the US in many large rural states.
Definitely a sobering reminder that the MC does not necessarily mean that you will have visual cues necessary to navigate by them.
That advice at the end is so important to so many of these scary situations- breathe and just fly the plane
This is reminscient of JFK JR's accident. Thank God this man was a sensible, trained pilot. I think this is a great video, thanks to both.
Agreed. The real scenario wasn't nearly as extreme as the simulation; however, the startle effect is nothing to sneeze at, and that's why I wanted to share it. When you're surprised, you really have to force yourself to think in order to avoid doing something impulsive.
Just by watching the clip from the passenger, the G1000 screen seemed super bright, I would recommend anyone flying evening into nighttime flights to dim your screens down. On the G1000 screen, it appeared to have a LOT of WHITE LIGHT, which is not good for the eyes transitioning for nighttime flight. Nice video, the challenges that can be brought upon in night flying from VMC to "IMC" are a real thing.
True although it can be next to impossible to know the actual brightness from the video taken on a camera with relatively low dynamic range - virtually all digital cameras.
I dim my gauges in the car at night and it puts everyone to sleep and nearly me too!
In my experience, dimming the g1000 causes the screens to flicker which makes them unusable
And THIS is why night flight in the Bahamas is IFR ONLY.
I fly out of a dark airport and on a moonless night, it's an ifr departure off our sound end. I try to warn all the "kids" to pay attention because it can be very dangerous.
And most of the rest of the world as far as I know. Well here in EU you technically can fly night VFR in some countries Class G airspace but that's useless since nearly all airports with lights are within class C or D and you need IFR for that at night.
I always use Google Earth if I'm flying to a new airport to get a lay of the land and possible elevation changes
Me too. Satellite view on Google Maps/Earth is far better for getting familiar with the way things look than our FAA VFR charts
@@CarterHancock right
I fly it in MSFS2020 as well...not exact but close enough to significantly reduce the chance of being surprised.
I’ve got thousands of hours at night and am IFR rated and I know exactly the feeling. I’ve done medevac into the mountains at night and even just staring at a solitary PAPI knowing that it’s the only thing keeping me safe is far more unnerving than punching through mixed ice on the way to the flight levels.
One piece of advice other than was given here is the G1000 is an amazing and comprehensive system… _use it to its full potential!_
If I was taking a G1000 equipped 172 to Martha’s Vineyard at night.. I would have a flight plan programmed with an approach, and I would be on autopilot flying IFR safe altitudes and procedures. If it didn’t have an autopilot or the autopilot wasn’t working or I was unfamiliar.. I’d be using the flight director and either using modes to set it (HDG, NAV, FLC , VS) or just setting it to an acceptable pitch attitude as a reminder and using ALT to make sure I wasn’t drifting from my desired altitude (it chimes at +/- 200ft).
I actually did this in a 172 flying in the mountains of BC.. but it was steam gauges and VOR/NDB (the plane did not have a GPS). There’s no other way I would have done it.
But good job. Remember… there is night.. and there is NIGHT!! Flying over a cityscape at night does not adequately prepare you for real NIGHT flying.
Best of luck on that instrument rating. It’s invaluable even if you never file IFR.
I'm sure its similar in Canada to Australia where visual references get few and far between once out of the cities. Just something to get used to quickly.
That is a big country you have down there, I was surprised how long it took to fly from Cairns to Brisbane when I was there. My Dad flew the charter in the western Canadian arctic and in winter there was 24 hour darkness, one time Dad was flying his Piper Aztec to Ft. McPherson and it was a unlighted airfield, on arrival he found his landing lights not functional, he was able to land anyway somehow, said his nav lights reflected off the snow plow ridge's on the side of the runway and helped him stay centered. It was very remote up there no VOR just NDB in those days.@@goodshipkaraboudjan
@@dwaynemcallister7231 I guess it's an environment that forces you to adapt to NVFR if 24 hour nights, didn't think of that. I bet your Dad enjoyed his knock off beer that night, awesome he pulled it off. Did my flight training out of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, had the benefit of days with blue skies and a coastline to follow so I could cheat on nav training. Trust me the drive between Cairns and Brisbane is longer, took two full days. Won't be doing that again.
Those hazy, moonless, night climb-outs into the desert alone in older planes, no AP, etc., always felt like walking a tightrope for me as a VFR guy. Sure feels like IMC since you have to trust and fly the instruments. Love night flying out here otherwise.
I believe it is technically IMC (FAR definition of IMC being no visual reference to the horizon). But the weather can still be above VFR minimums (often very well above) and thus it is legal VFR in IMC. Another example that legal and safe are separate things even though they coincidence a lot.
Great video.
Glad you enjoyed it
@CompleteWalkaround Fancy seeing you here!
Black hole VFR departures are only dangerous when the pilot isn't mentally prepared for loss of visual reference. Whenever I fly in or even close in proximity to night time hours, I verbally brief the scenario along with my standard engine anomaly briefing. Verbalizing what you are going to do when you lose visual reference will make a huge impact towards preventing the startle effect.
My flight school took me to ocean city maryland airport (koxb) so I could take off from rw 14 at night Which put you right into the darkness over the Atlantic. My first time, once the runway lights were gone, it was a very overwhelming feeling, one that I'm glad I experienced my first time with an instructor next to me. I fly from kdmw to koxb often just to take off into the black just to stay in the game when I can, so I'm very familiar of the dark with no horizon on a clear night
Congrats! Those are some serious skillsets
Thank you for this. I am student pilot and flying with my family ocean city is something I always wanted to do eventually, It never came to me how that departure at night could be so overwhelming.
I learned to fly up in NH and to his credit, my instructor introduced me to this fairly early so that I would be ready for when it happens unexpectedly.
Good job getting yourself out of a potential situation… thanks for the share…
I was instrument rated but often flew VFR out of CGX (the former Meigs field in Chicago). When the tower issued me a turn over the lake at night to go in my desired heading, I would heavily use my instruments to make the turn until I could see the shoreline again. And that is in Chicago, with the big citys bright lights. But still no horizon at night looking out over the lake.
Thank you,Sir, for sharing your story.
I LOVE it when pilots share their personal stories. 🥰
Thank you for your kind words!
Man figured out what a black hole is mid flight. Good job not dying.
and that's why a constant crosscheck it's very important
Yeah, you can totally be in IMC in a VFR flight.
Thank you; that was the main point I tried to convey by sharing this story. It's one thing to know there are clouds and being prepared to fly by instruments; I found it completely different to expect to fly visually and have to switch suddenly.
@jaaa00yahoo One of the biggest problems with new IFR pilots is not fully understanding these situations. They won't see known icing and think, oh good, no ice.
I think all pilots shoukd be thrown into this scenario as part of their basic flight training.
My CFI had me do dinner at PIE for my long cross country practice. We landed while it was still light out. Departure was a different story. It was a moonless night. As soon as those runway lights disappeared and the black abyss of Tampa Bay is all i could see, I scoffed, "might as well be IMC, how is this legal?" I had enough sense to throw the autopilot on, wings level, put in the desired altitude and climb rate and let it do the work. Even with the AP on, I was keeping a close eye on the steam gauges just in case the ancient K(r)AP140 decided to act up. I actually enjoyed the flight and navigating by instruments.
IIRC, Canada and the Bahamas don't allow VFR flights at night due to this.
Thank you for sharing your story!
A man’s got to know his limitations
Excellent advice given!
Thanks for the upload... safe fly everyone.
As a VFR pilot, I’ve found it’s good practice and kind of fun to fly in those “black hole” conditions. Everything I need to do it is right in front of my face, but I have the backup safety of an auto pilot. My worries are not about flying by instruments, but include electrical failures and engine failure at night.
Cape, Islands, coastal RI are notorious for challenging weather. Besides pilots, boaters often have difficulties especially those lacking radar.
Thanks for the candid video
DDDDDDDDduck, heck I almost panic watching this video. Very well done presentation and very good lesson. No sky reference, no ground reference, you are IFR. Good advice, just breath!
Good video. How many planes have gone down over the ocean just for that reason? Glad you trusted your instruments to get you out of it.
Great video. Tip: turn your screen lights down for more natural night vision
Thanks for sharing. I have found that taking off at night, especially in rural Oregon, it's IFR practice until you see lights or other visual references. This helps me not get surprised, I just expect it and treat it like IMC even though it's VFR conditions technically.
Thank you for the advice. That's how I'll always approach night flights from now on. I realize that I had a lot of practice flying at night in the dense SF Bay Area, so I never imagined I would have no lights on the ground after takeoff beyond the airport, and that's why I had not planned to treat the flight as IMC.
I really appreciate these.
Good advice.
Nice topic choice! I've flown to Martha's Vineyard several times over the years, and I generally time my departure to late afternoon/early evening before sunset at the latest so that it's still daylight while I'm over the ocean (I go from Maryland) just in case for search and rescue over the water, but also because of the issues exhibited in the video. I fly it IFR regardless of the weather, but I have gone out of there at night in a twin and, yeah, it is most certainly pitch black over the Atlantic. I knew that going into that flight, so I wasn't surprised that I was on instruments for the entire time along the Manta routing toward Atlantic City. And I also did a lot of sim practice before that round trip flight as well, as I had to fly the RNAV into 06 almost to minimums earlier that day as well. It's a beautiful island, a great GA airport, but you have to consider what it takes to safely fly there, so consult flight instructors or others who go there regularly before you try, depending on your experience level. I also fly there with flotation devices, including a vest that I wear, and I have a PLB on my person.
I once flew in middle of the night (vfr,) from Manassas to Ocean City airport. My plan had been to land and to navigate and let down to 700 agl using the Vor approach. That all worked fine but when I crossed the beach over the water now it was all black. I decided instantly to abandon the Landung and did a left Standard rate climbing turn back towards Martinsburg Vor and back to Manassas. The ac was a B33 with old KX 170's and no wing leveler. Going into the all black over water was pretty scary. Fortunately I had had some instrument training but could easily see that it would have been easy to lose control.
As an instrument rated pilot, it baffles me knowing to fly at night you dont need an instrument rating
Not a pilot, but I grew up on the waters around Martha’s Vineyard. Taking a 12 foot boat around the island with nothing but a phone in increasingly big seas, hey, that sure is a big fog bank rolling in I better get closer to the shore, so I don’t lose my only visual reference. 20 seconds later, aaaaaaand I can’t see shit. What’s up Compass how you doing today?
I told that story to say that I don’t mean this next thing in a bad way because I’ve been there. But it can be hilarious to reap the reward of the situation you’ve put yourself in.
“So I went into the darkness, and suddenly I can’t see shit!” 😂
Here in South Florida night flight is 50% of the time IMC. Highly recommend to fly IFR in night flights
Better learn to know the incline of runways and surroundings too. You have to maintain a high rate of climb in some areas even to avoid contacting the airfield. Clipping the ground isn't a good thing.
Raised flying New England with many flights into the Vineyard, Block Island etc. Conditions can catch you off guard quickly. Thing I find strange is all my flying was on a six pack and the transition was never difficult. I wonder if anyone has studied this with glass panels? Do they delay the transition back onto instrument's especially with unusual attitudes. Would like to see the research if there is any.
Very lucky to have the right reaction before getting in a stall/spin who would be catastrophic. So many people died and will die flying at night because they have no knowledge of problems related to night flying. Lack of training and knowledge to identify the risk before take-off.
This is why my rule of thumb is IFR at night
It may just be the video. However, it appears you had the instrument backlighting extremely bright.
It is just that easy.
what is the background music😢
I’m not a pilot and therefore know little about this stuff - other than being another RUclips expert.
And that pilot was there and I wasn’t.
But did it occur to anyone else that this fellow was in the middle of wrecking his plane when he happened to glimpse the lights ashore?
Of course I’m not saying this is what happened. But the thought did cross my mind.
Nope. I have 2 nonpilot passengers; they didn't even notice a thing. I didn't even lose altitude, see my expanded comment. But I was definitely startled by losing my visual references suddenly.
@@jaaa00yahoo Fair enough. Thanks.
And thanks for being so civil in response to an admittedly uninformed and probably out of line statement.
Sad to have seen this actual accident that has some similarities to my experience: ruclips.net/video/5_Q1GHMXEJg/видео.html. The words of Rich McSpadden at from the 5:50 mark to 6:25 are so important. That was a 1,200-hour pilot with commercial and instrument ratings. Most VFR into IMC scenarios involve some type of weather, but I hope we can build awareness to the black-hole, whiteout and desert-related scenarios.
This location made me think of JFK Jr and his horrible predicament. Rip
I’m familiar with the issue of taking off over water at night, but are there popular GA airports where there may be a similar effect taking off over an empty desert, forest or similar without lights?
Almost certainly
Absolutely
KTLH Rwy 18 at night
KBXK 17. Farms directly off the runway, then a whoooole lot of nothing. First time I did night flying out of BXK during my PP training, it was honestly terrifying.
KBLH Rwy 35 and SW out of KHII
I never understood how it's legal to fly VFR at night in the US. Sure some nights are great, but some nights you can see nothing. How is it legal to put oneself in a situation where it's not reasonable to expect oneself to be able to remain VFR? Very confusing to me. I've only flown at night once during my training because a night dual cross-country is a requirement, but even though that night happened to be great I could easily see how someone could fly into an invisible cloud even on a relatively bright night. Really confused about this.
Yea this seemed like a very unwise decision.
@@jnick1909 Not necessarily. He's instrument rated so had the skills to handle it, even if he didn't file. I think he just wasn't mentally set up for the transition and had to reset his brain.
@@scarybaldguy Sounded like he said he was working on getting it at the time of that flight. But maybe I heard that wrong.
@@scarybaldguy That's exactly what took place. Thank you.
If my experience is any clue to why night VFR legal is that, in densely populated areas, a flight like this can actually be quite straightforward in terms of airplane control. I actually had all that "muscle memory" of having learned in the SF Bay Area, so I was not expecting to not see any lit roads, houses or cars and go to zero visual references in a manner of 1 or 2 seconds.
Thanks for sharing. Simple solution to this. Ban night VFR in the US. It's sort of fine somewhere flat and well lit like Florida but utterly daft in numerous other parts of the US.
That's ridiculous, it's a matter of training and experience.
@@goodshipkaraboudjan So ridiculous almost the entire rest of the world doesn't allow or facilitate night VFR? Considering the US leads the world in GA accidents(I'm aware there is also more GA flying there), especially regarding night or flight into IMC/icing accidents, it might do the US well to look outside its borders for the answers.
@@davidkavanagh189 NVFR is taught in Australia and NZ. It's a staple for progressing to IFR and a minimum requirement for VFR charter jobs in remote areas. It's just taught properly and the standard set high.
@@goodshipkaraboudjan Interesting, although both of those countries are rather small in terms of aviation movements so probably not the best example to make your point. If you have IFR training, some night VFR is going to be of almost no benefit. A better comparison would be the EU where night VFR is generally/prohibited/unnecessary/considered dangerous
@@davidkavanagh189 Correct, IFR is always going to beat NVFR however night hours are an absolute requirement for any IFR rating here. It's more beneficial as an introduction to IFR training than practicing under the hood. I have probably 70 to 100 hours or so from early stages of career flying NVFR in remote environments and it was absolutely beneficial experience. I'm grateful that my NVFR instructor had practical and real world experience themselves and wasn't some shiny CPL graduate with an instructors rating.
Pilot: I don’t suppose that you have ever heard of John F. Kennedy Junior’s fateful flight in that same area. Dah! Why in the world did you not plan for your return take off to be 90 minutes sooner/before dusk???
Blame their instructors for not throwing them into this scenario during training. My CFI did and I'm grateful for it. Even though he intentionally didn't brief me on what was about to happen, it was a total non-event for me through. After a few seconds of the runway lights having disappeared and no other reference out the windscreen, I just turned on the autopilot for the wing leveler, set the altitude, and let it drive while I kept an eye on the steam gauges to make sure the AP was behaving. Very enjoyable, relaxing flight.
I also believe CFIs should teach students stall training with real, unanticipated spins. Going through one of those is a lot different than just waiting for a little nose drop. Real unintentional spins get your attention and you won't forget it and you become very keen to recognize the signs of a stall long before the stall horn starts screaming.
@@grayrabbit2211 Same for my NVFR Instructor, particuarly and spins are part of the PPL syllabus here in Australia. I was kind of shocked at how different it is in the states and how inexperienced instructors are. Mostly just kids without any real world experience building hours.
@@goodshipkaraboudjan This is what happens when regular non-pilot politicians are in charge of making aviation rules. After the Colgan Air crash, US Congress passed the 1, 500 hour rule. Btw, all pilots involved in the Colgan crash had well over 1,500 hours. So if someone wants to be an ATP, they now needed that instead of the 250 previously required. How can someone afford 1,500 hours of flight time? Become a CFI and let the students pay for the aircraft rental.
For my training, I intentionally chose CFIs with "some gray hair" for the experience and wisdom.
@@grayrabbit2211 Correct. In Australia you go bush flying in 206s or head to NZ, Papua New Guinea, Botswana, Namibia etc where ever you get paid to fly. The CFI route in the US is a joke. Most instructors here got the job because they could instruct from Ab Initio to MECIR and everything in between. Not some kid with zero real world experience. You chose correctly. In cockpits in the US to this moment the E-3 visa debate rages. ACMIs hiring experienced Aussies and Kiwis over someone that wasted four years of a degree then became a CFI and went regional vs people their age with 4000TT with twin turbine bush command and twin jet time.
May we all seek God!
🙏 "Promo sm"
Thanks for sharing, but turn down the brightness on your screens! And invert black background. Holy cow! White light is the last thing you want flying at night. You exacerbated the problem.
Wow, staring right at the pitch-up indicator with decreasing airspeed and he still didn’t react? I think this pilot should go back to re-do IFR training, not sure how he passed in the first place.
This was a VFR flight. He never said he has an IFR rating. But yeah, he should have reacted quicker just based on VFR unusual attitude recovery practices.
Hardly the first pilot to not react quickly or at all to a situation like that, including airline pilots. Startle factor is really serious. It can induce a mild panic and it's well known humans don't concentrate well when in a state of panic. I'm guessing you're either not a pilot or have never been startled. It happened to me once and really surprised me.
Hi. I'm the pilot in the video. A few things I'll say: first, I did react in a timely way by pushing down and recognizing the situation; second, I do have an IFR rating, although this flight was VFR in expected VMC; third, the real situation was nowhere near as extreme as how the simulation portrays it; I didn't create it and I couldn't edit how it came out. In my flight, I never got to the stall horn (not even a chirp), the steepest my bank got was about 5 to 10 degrees, and my passengers didn't even notice anything different than other normal flights. But the point of the video is that, as I was trying to correct that small bank to wings-level, after just having been startled by losing my references and having to unexpectedly go to instruments, I allowed my pitch to drift from 12-13 to about 17 degrees. There are at least 2 layers in everyone's neural processing (reptilian, limbic and intellectual), and you have to quickly recognize that you're startled in order to react quickly with your intellectual brain without reacting impulsively with the 2 lower layers. That's easier said than done. Also, your scan can be slow if you're not expecting to have to scan. What I wanted to convey to others by sharing this is that you can get caught up in dicey situations and have a wrong reaction if you're startled. My IFR training was with great instructors and I'm not someone that had to overcome difficulties to learn IFR; I also constantly read training materials and try to fly often. But that is very much the point: something like this (or worse) can happen to experienced and good pilots.
@@jaaa00yahoo Interesting clarification. Thanks for sharing the details. I definitely know what you mean about having to do that sudden unexpected instrument scan. It's surprising how surprising it is!