The Mooney M20K pilot said he was aware that the Low Intensity Runway Lights (LIRL) at his departure airport in Laurel, Maryland, were not operational when he departed on a local flight.
When he returned to the airport later that night, he attempted to operate the LIRL, but only one side of the runway edge lights activated. He conducted a low approach to see which lights were working and then executed a go-around.
On the second approach, he planned to conduct another low approach to see if he could identify the runway paint markings.
If he saw the paint markings, he planned to continue the low approach into a landing.
During the second low approach, the airplane hit a structure that was used as a precision approach path indicator.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings.
A review of the airport facility directory revealed that the LIRL lights were listed as inoperative indefinitely, but also noted to activate LIRL with common traffic advisory frequency.
Probable cause: The pilot’s improper decision to attempt a nighttime landing at an unsuitable airport, which resulted in a collision with the precision approach path indicator.
NTSB Identification: ERA15CA157
This March 2015 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
I considered myself a decent pilot. When I was distracted (when my mother died) I choose not to fly because you need everything in your mind concentrating on your flying. Later, I got back to flying and was ready to do my first landing in a controlled airport. Only I misread the chart and called in too late, telling the ATC I would do a 180 and fly out of his airspace. Then return the right way. He said “NO” I want you to land now. So I did. Thankfully there was no other traffic. I pulled up to the tower, went in and introduced myself to the ATC. “I’m a student” I told him. “I already knew that” he said, “but where did you get that new Skyhawk?” “I work for the company.”
I think he was forgiving because I was a student and even private pilots make mistakes. I went on to get my license and become an approved pilot, even delivering a new airplane to a distributor. New drivers in cars make mistakes and pilots make mistakes. Only mistakes in the air can be more costly.
“gotta get there” is one of the basic no-nos and is what bit this guy. If it’s bad to start with it will not get better flying back and forth over it.
On one occasion I did land at a airport that had no lights at all. It wasn’t not scary but it was doable. All Notams were checked before leaving the home strip. I couldn’t tell which way the wind was blowing. The slight moonlight was all the lighting I had. After making two similar approaches, with landing lights on, I landed safely. I looked for the fence line I had seen on the passes and kept
My altitude just above it then lowered to the strip just past the fence. As I remember, I floated a ways almost afraid to let down, then cut the throttle. I’m not sure what went wrong and caused him to hit something off runway but that can happen in broad daylight. I knew where the runway was and could see it in the landing lights. I would like to hear his side of the story.
Same here. Very doable on a clear night and a full moon. Guessing those were not the conditions here.
What Ray said.
We have here a classic example of an idiot who somehow managed to get a license to legally operate an airplane. It should be revoked before he hurts someone aside from himself. Even after being told in writing that the runway lights were inoperative indefinitely, this idiot launched off into the dark with the intent of returning to land at the same airport and surprise surprise proceeded to crash attempting to land. You cannot make this stuff up.
Your choice of the noun “Idiot” to describe this pilot is a bit coarse. Yes he made a mistake, not a wise choice, however you don’t know him. Many good qualified pilots have made bad choices which make us scratch our head. But we are all pilots, and with that goes respect, decorum and maturity.
What Bluestar said.
How quick to judge. A very condensed story.
Let’s back up to a problem that occurred in the early 2000’s. What would you do if there was a regional power outage? How would you land if all the power were out for a far as you could see at 5000 AGL? Remember the power outage that ringed Lake Erie?
This is an interesting practice situation. Suppose you were within 20NM of your home airport, coming back from a 200NM trip when all the lights go out for as far as you could see in any direction. How do you set up to land?
Granted, in my case, CAK and CLE were powered and functional, so I could have used either one, but I didn’t know that at the time — so I decided that since I didn’t have to fly, stay put until the next day.
Years later, I had a high time retired 737 captain show me how to make such a landing when the lights of the airport have failed (in this case because they had, everything around the airport was lit, but the airport was dark.
Idiots? No. We intercepted the GPS approach after the FAF (we were already at pattern height) and with the landing light on, I could make out the thresh hold and runway number a bit over 100yrds out and 300′ AGL. It was interesting that just as we got in the apron area where the fuel pumps were, all the lights came back on.
So, this can be done if needed. But one needs to practice this to know how to do it. And one also needs to know that there are no NOTAMs for unlit cranes, and the like, otherwise, you are asking for trouble.
Thank you, Bluestar – well said. This seems to be a judgment issue, not an intelligence issue. One learns from errors, mistakes, and bad experiences. Fortunately in this case, we have an opportunity to learn from another’s bad experience instead of our own mistake 🙂