By Robert N. Rossier, EAA 472091

This piece originally ran in Robert’s Stick and Rudder column in the January 2023 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.

The days have gotten notably shorter as we glide deeply into the winter season, so the prospects of night flight have become more likely for some of us. As we prepare for our night sojourns in the sky, consider the abnormal and emergency scenarios that could occur and have a plan to deal with them.

The night was clear and starry in eastern Colorado when the pilot of a Socata Trinidad (TB-20) ran into trouble. Unknown to him at the time, he had used the wrong power settings for a return trip to KBJC (Rocky Mountain Metro Airport) near Denver, resulting in a significantly higher fuel burn. He clearly should have added more fuel before his last leg of the night flight, but it was a little late for that. The engine had sucked the tanks dry. He was now flying a glider in the dead of the night, looking for a place to land in the relative flatlands east of Denver.

Nearing the ground, he opted to turn on his landing light to see what he could see. There it was: a winding, hilly, dirt road with powerlines to one side. It would be tricky, but he didn’t have a lot of options. This one had just popped up out of nowhere. Less than 20 minutes later, I got the phone call. I checked my watch, roughly 2:30 a.m. — way too early to be up, and way too late to be flying. The call came from the pilot; he was reporting the emergency, reassuring me that he had landed safely, and requesting a ride.

When I arrived on the scene, the hairs on the back of my neck were standing straight up. The road was narrower than I had imagined and flanked by powerlines. The terrain was anything but flat. But there was the Trinidad parked neatly on the front lawn of a rural ranch house, with nary a scratch on it. Clearly, lady luck had been riding on the shoulder of the pilot that night.

Dealing with a night emergency landing can be a real challenge, so we need to have our head on straight and all our assets lined up and ready to go when we venture out after dark. As we might imagine, there is a lot we can learn by flying with different instructors. Each provides different insights, tips, tricks, safety and survival notes, and so on. We might find some conflicting theories on how to handle night emergencies, but most are based on real-life situations. Any advice might have the potential to save us from certain disaster. Here are a few points to consider.

Set and Forget

Years ago, I learned a good trick when I was getting some dual from a fellow instructor during a night flight in a Cessna 172 in the Denver area. In this case, it was how to deal with a nighttime engine-out scenario. As she explained, the trick is to configure the airplane for a shallow, low-speed, controlled descent, and then just ride it out. It sounds scary, but in some cases, it might be the best way to play our cards.

This is how it works: full flaps, trim all the way nose-up, and take your hands and feet off the controls. The airplane assumes a low airspeed — slightly higher than stall — and a roughly 500 fpm descent rate. The resulting impact is hard but quite survivable.

The in-flight demonstration made a believer of me. The aircraft did exactly as the instructor had described, and it was clear that configuring the aircraft in this manner could serve as a Hail Mary tactic if this worst-case scenario ever occurred. I’ve never had to use it for real, but I’ve never forgotten it.

In Search of Black Holes

Lighting often equates to obstacles, so some experts on the subject of night emergency landings recommend finding the darkest area and setting up for landing there. It could be a field or forest. Either way, we have the opportunity to get slow and close to the ground. The situation to avoid is one where we put the aircraft in a crazy attitude at low altitude.

Landing Light, or Not

The last thing we want to do is see something that spooks us, driving us to attempt evading an obstacle, and instead ending up in a crazy attitude close to the ground. Such a situation can easily end up in a horrific out-of-control crash. The advice given to me was to turn on the landing light, but turn it off again if I don’t like what I see.

Speed Reading

Another night emergency we could conceivably face is the total loss of electrical power, which makes it difficult or impossible to see the instruments and maintain a safe flight attitude and airspeed. While we might not be able to read the numbers on the airspeed indicator, we might be able to see the general orientation of the needle. The trick is knowing that in most light general aviation aircraft, a horizontal airspeed needle means the airplane is at a safe flying speed. If we have more than a hint of a horizon, and can maintain a safe flying speed, we may be able to save the day.

Interior Illumination

A good resource to have on any night flight is a flashlight. Whether we’re trying to read the instruments in a blacked-out cockpit, checking that the landing gear is down, or trying to find the charts we need, some form of interior lighting can be indispensable. I like a headlamp-style light, which points to where I’m looking and allows me two free hands to do whatever needs to be done. The flashlight should always be kept where we can easily find it in the dark and not tucked away in a flight bag in the back of the aircraft.

Instrument Training

One problem we have with night flight is the fact that we cannot see very well. This makes it easy to inadvertently fly into the clouds, which can create a serious issue. The remedy is to have some well-honed, basic instrument skills that allow us to keep the airplane right side up and pointed in the right direction. Even if an instrument rating or full instrument currency is not in the cards, recurrent training in basic attitude instrument flying can be a life saver in a night emergency.

Good Luck, If You Can Get It

I recall a story of another lucky pilot flying a light twin over the Texas nightscape years ago who suffered an engine fire and had to make an emergency landing. As he let down, runway lights for a private airstrip miraculously appeared beneath him. He made a safe landing, and none too soon. Shortly after, the fire-damaged wing separated from the aircraft. As with the pilot of the TB-20, this was one lucky pilot. But luck is fickle, and we can never count on having good luck. When it comes to flying after dark, it’s always better to be prepared.

Robert N. Rossier, EAA 472091, has been flying for more than 40 years and has worked as a flight instructor, commercial pilot, chief pilot, and FAA flight check air