Cirrus night flying accident report just published

[AbsoluteFokker]

Originally Posted by Centaurus

Investigation: AO-2018-038 - Loss of control and collision with terrain involving Cirrus SR22, VH-PDC, Orange Airport, NSW, on 15 May 2018
Make no mistake about it, a go-around on instruments at night close to the ground requires good instrument flying skills and in particular coping with pitch attitude changes with flap retraction. Which is the reason why with student pilots the exercise is best conducted initially in daylight under the hood before night flying training takes place.

My first experience of night flying was during night VFR training at an airport that had a particularly crappy PAL system that couldn't be reset. Moonless night. Hill obscured the town lights. Once the lights were in imminent shutdown phase (rotating beacon on the windsock etc.) you had to orbit until they turned off and you could reactivate them.

I got one circuit (with low level go-around) and then on the second circuit at about 60 foot EVERYTHING went black.

Brilliant learning experience.

My night rating instructors insisted on multiple go-around scenarios with eyes down and straight onto instrument scans.

As a previous computer gamer, this seemed simple and logical to me.