Aircraft: Piper Warrior. Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: Marana, Ariz. Aircraft damage: Destroyed.
What reportedly happened: The non-instrument-rated pilot had amassed an estimated 185 hours of total flight experience, of which 7.3 hours were conducted at night over sparsely populated terrain. He had flown the route twice before in the day time.
The accident flight was the first time he had flown the route in dark night conditions. For the first 30 minutes after departure, radar returns for the flight were uniformly spaced and at uniform altitudes, with the track was consistent with a route of flight toward the destination airport.
About four minutes before the end of the data, radar returns showed the airplane making a series of turns with fluctuations in altitude before crashing into unpopulated desert. The maneuvering and altitude variations were inconsistent with the intended route of flight.
Investigators determined that because of the pilot’s inexperience in night time conditions, he likely experienced the effects of spatial disorientation as the accident occurred in an area devoid of visual references. Ground scar analysis, impact signatures, and wreckage fragmentation patterns disclosed that the airplane hit the ground in a slightly nose-low attitude with high speed.
A review of the pilot’s daily work activities revealed that he had not obtained his normal amount of rest before the accident and investigators determined he was likely fatigued, however, the effect the fatigue would have had on his operation of the airplane could not be determined.
Probable cause: The pilot’s flight in dark night conditions with no visual reference and his subsequent spatial disorientation.
NTSB Identification: WPR13FA010
This October 2012 accident report is are provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
The most difficult thing to teach in aviation ( or in life) is Judgement.
My CV: Commercial, Instrument, Multi, LTA, proud recipient of the FAA Master Pilot
Award.
My 18 year ownership of a Pitts S1S, taught me a lot about Judgement.
I’m not sure if it can even be taught. I think it must be self taught, or learned from
experience, if the experience doesn’t kill you.
My experience in airline training departments, and line flying, is that judgement cannot be taught ..as you said Jim..we learn from our experiences…
“Captain, why do you make fewer mistakes than me?”..”Experience my son..experience…”..Captain how does one gain valuable experience?..By making mistakes my son..many mistakes”..
Don’t know about American requirements , but in Canada, although you will get some instrument training during your ppl, you can’t fly at night without a full night endorsement. Requires another 15 hours of night training, then your license is reissued and includes night endorsement.
Nonetheless, as always, its only a license to keep learning.
Bhanks Bluestar – very inciteful as to Canada “requiring” additional training before endorsement; nevertheless, a 185 hour pilot with a “license to learn” still doesn’t cut it when the chips are down and he/she becomes confused and spatially disoriented and due to a lack of experience then panic creeps in and the whole nine yards goes down the drain if you know what I mean. The real issue here to me seems to be can the pilot recover from unusual attitudes (whether at night or in the day really doesn’t matter) and what is the “confidence level” that the pilot has every time the prop is turning. What sort of disposition does this individual have if accidently caught inadvertantly in a cloud and what kind of judgment does this person use when two or more things go “south” at the same time in an emergency situation. Do you know where I am coming from on this?
This makes the good argument that pilots need to be instrument/visual pilots and not visual pilots only. I didn’t say that they needed to be instrument “rated” but instrument “pilots”. We don’t need the FAA to make more restrictions. What we need are competent instructors that can teach student pilots to fly the airplanes using the instruments alone before taking off in ANY conditions whether night or otherwise.