Fatal in Country Victoria

[Guest Maj Millard]

Nice that the OzRunways info boxes up top include last light (LL) if you choose to select it.the current QNA is also there as needed, highlighted in orange. Never a good idea to push it because you will get caught eventually. One of the reason I spent the extra dough and flight-time to add a night VFR to my original PPL.

 

Even though we are not permitted to fly past LL, we are human and make mistakes. Even the great Captain Cook hit the Barrier reef didn't he ?......And if you do get caught, having the NVFR skills and confidence, can make all the difference for a safe return to terra firma. The main thing is you stay calmer and work through the situation, instead of allowing panic to enter the equation...Maj...

 

 

[Admin]

Here is my experience about last light...and a BIG lesson learnt:

 

http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/a-great-trip-a-lesson-learnt-and-experience-gained.1766/

 

 

[Neil_S]

Contact who??

They (RAA) contact the registered owner of the plane as per the rego, either seen or heard on broadcast. They ask who was flying at that time.

 

 

[farri]

he then miss calculated his approach striking his trees resulting in the plane hitting the ground verticle killing him instantly, unfortunatly with his family witnessing the event...quote]flyerme, When this happen?

 

Frank.

[poteroo]

Nice that the OzRunways info boxes up top include last light (LL) if you choose to select it.the current QNA is also there as needed, highlighted in orange. Never a good idea to push it because you will get caught eventually. One of the reason I spent the extra dough and flight-time to add a night VFR to my original PPL.Even though we are not permitted to fly past LL, we are human and make mistakes. Even the great Captain Cook hit the Barrier reef didn't he ?......And if you do get caught, having the NVFR skills and confidence, can make all the difference for a safe return to terra firma. The main thing is you stay calmer and work through the situation, instead of allowing panic to enter the equation...Maj...

The big problem for NVFR is in keeping your currency. Under the new CASR 61 - NVFR ratings will be reviewed every 2 years, along with your licence, and any other rating that you hold, eg, Ag,IR, CIR,PIFR, and it will also include the new Low Level Rating. Going to be a very busy time at review!!

 

happy days,

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Potrero, I take your points there, and of course what you say is completely valid of course. However,... legal or not, recently reviewed / current or not, none of those alone will pull you out of deep doo doo, if you have stuffed up, got your LL incorrect or ignored it, and somehow, for whatever reason, found yourself still airborne as the daylight slowly but surely dissappears. Remember we are all human, not robots, and we do stuff up on occasions. We are the weakest link.

 

Then, the only thing that makes a difference wether you pull through , or not, is wether you possess the skills required to fly the aircraft safety to a landing, and to remain suitable calm without panic, when doing so.

 

As I stated above, unless you have the past training, and have proven you have the skills ( achieved the rating) to remain calm and efficient, then your chances of stumbling out of the dark are slim indeed, and probably about the same as if you had inadvertently flown into IFR conditions.

 

If I ever find myself in the dark and needing to land ASAP, I won't give a damn wether I'm current or not, I'd be in a simple survival situation, and I'd be more than happy to discuss those legal details when I 'm safety on the ground !......I do however know I have the skills, having used and achieved the rating in the past, and I always carry a red lens torch with me so I know I'll at least have the required instrument lighting.

 

With all this in mind, and Probabily knowing the potential dangers better than somebody without the past rating, I alway make every effort to be firmly planted well before last light, as everybody should.

 

The only realistic way of avoiding having people kill themselves after stumbling past last light, is to give them the skills to recover from it, or require that we are all firmly parked one hour before expected last light..that unfortunatly is the reality of the whole thing............Maj...

 

 

[flyerme]

Hey Farri,I believe it was the 27th june. Investigators were on scene at around 8 pm and police watched the wreckage over night , the investigators were back out at first light next day.Havnt heard anything since?

 

 

[turboplanner]

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2013/aair/ao-2013-104.aspx\

 

Have a look on this link and you'll see the preliminary report.

 

 

[farri]

Hey Farri,I believe it was the 27th june.

Thanks flyerme and Turbo. I missed that one. What a needles tradegy.

 

Remember we are all human, not robots, and we do stuff up on occasions. We are the weakest link.Maj...

Though not as recent, another needles tragedy.

 

I believe in using true stories as an educational tool. I`ve told this story before on this forum but with new members joining all the time, I see no reason not to repeat it.

 

Two guys I`d instructed and who had their AUF pilot certificate and cross country endorsement were flying back from Chillagoe, FNQ, after a club get together. One in his Drifter and the other in his Quicksilver GT 500. The wife of both guys and the Quicksilver guys two tenage children were driving back by car.

 

The car left Chillagoe a fair bit earlier than the two aircraft but the aircraft caught up about half way back. They were both flying at 2000`AGL... While the guy in the Drifter remained at that height the other guy must have decided ( I say, Must have decided, because we will never know for sure ) to go down and overfly the car. As he flew past the car he hit a powerline crossing the highway and crashed onto the highway, in front of the car with his family in it.

 

Those in the car had to direct trafic until the authorities arived. The following morning the pilot passed away. The guy in the Drifter witnessed it all.

 

' another needles tragedy.'

 

Frank.

 

 

[facthunter]

NVFR is not really an option with RAAus. The aircraft are not (generally) near being compliant. Most pilots won't have the training, so the best option is to allow plenty of extra time. A mate of mine many years ago set out from Newcastle to Lightning Ridge in a Hornet Moth.

 

He ended up finding very strong headwinds and as often happens DUST. Running out of daylight and having reduced visibility he decided to set the plane down on the road. This was going fine as cars show the road with their lights, but as he was flaring the plane he came across a cattle grid and lifted the plane over it and stalled in with the wheels breaking off and the aircraft written off. A passing Landrover pulled it by the tail off the road. No eggs were broken in this story but he hadn't paid his last insurance payment. The insurance company did the right thing and accepted he had forgotten to make the payment. Just a little story about last light.

 

Another thing to take into account near last light is landing into the sun. Sometimes that is the way you must land but you can see nothing, so you might just have to wait till the sun has just gone under the horizon. That is the reason some pilots wear those caps with the peak on. Nev

 

 

[farri]

NVFR is not really an option with RAAus. The aircraft are not (generally) near being compliant. Most pilots won't have the training, so the best option is to allow plenty of extra time. Nev

Couldn`t agree more.

 

Another true story I`ve told here before and believe it`s worth repeating. If it get`s through to just one person and saves a tragedy, I`ve acheived what I`m trying to do.

 

Very experienced AUF pilot ( here in FNQ, know him very well ) had an engine failure in flight. Using his words, " I had no where to go except on the highway. " ......The highway had high trees on both side and he did manage to get around the trees but his airspeed had got so low he hit the road pretty heavy...The aircraft yawed ninety degrees to the left, the right wing went up, a four weel drive came around the blind corner ahead and passed under the right wing... There was a high bank on the left side of the road, the aircraft slamed into it head on and though, at the time, he thought he wasn`t badly injured he received life lasting injuries that have progressively got worse. I know because I was talking to him only a couple of weeks ago.

 

His flying? Well that was over. He never repaird the aircraft.

 

Frank.

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Jill and Zane wrote an interesting article in this months RAA mag about these types of accident. You may miss it however as the story page has in the center a massive pic of a padlock and something about locking your plane, which ios not even mentioned in the story. Poor editing, but the story is good.

 

You will only get caught once, then you wont do it again. If you do it on purpose, your the type of bloke we end up talking about in here:)

 

 

[turboplanner]

When I was training Night VFR was seen as an attractive option, extending the business day, but after a few decades of seeing it all turn to sh$t, I'd have to say that a current IFR rating is the only way to go if you want to contemplate late afternoon flying cross country.

 

Apart from weather, last light can creep up on you due to things like waiting for a refueller to come out to the airport, diverting so people who have thrown up can clean themselves.

 

I've been delayed for more than two hours into late afternoon on long flights on two occasions, and it usually means almost re-flight planning.

 

Aside from the unexpected, one of the safest ways to avoid last light is to do your performance and operations calculations before every flight, which we are all required to do.

 

This link is about a NVFR qualified pilot who finished up at last light in the Wimmera wheat area where the houses can be kilometres apart and there are no town lights to get a horizon

 

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2011/aair/ao-2011-100.aspx

 

Early morning also has its problems, with Roma Airport known for a particularly black surround at first light I certainly resolved not to take off at first light any more after reading this and the following link.

 

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2013/aair/ao-2013-057.aspx

 

This is discussion on the Roma crash from some very experienced commercial pilots, showing something we don't experience in VFR flying - somotograpgic illusion.

 

http://www.pprune.org/pacific-general-aviation-questions/511041-c210-crash-roma.html

 

 

[pmccarthy]

I landed after dark into crossed headlights 40 years ago with 4 POB and scared myself so much that I have never come close to doing it again. I agree with Motz, you will only get caught once.

 

 

[metalman]

I got caught out late ,once, I've never ,ever, made the mistake again, obviously it worked out but flying final with a mobile phone lighting the panel is a BAD thing, the only thing I did right was knowing the PAL freq without that I don't know what I would've done! The thing I've noticed with aviating is the randomness of death, we all make mistakes,,,some of us get to learn from them, others get to be an example , there is no way of telling which one you'll get to be !!!

 

Matty