Originally Posted by
Aussie Bob
Sunny, with all due respect, do you heave either NVRF or CIFR? I have flown with a few pilots that could take off on this airstrip, climb to LSALT on instruments within 3 or less nautical miles and do it with a precision I could only dream about. I am not one of them and I doubt any of them would do anyway unless there was a compelling reason.
That is beside the point however, a way back in this thread I asked what numerous are now asking and no-one seems to be able to answer and that is, are runway lights required for take off ? I think for private ops there are no requirements in law but I don't know for sure.
I do know that I saw the aftermath of a crash where a single line of flares was laid for a night landing but the pilot on arrival chose the opposite runway. Fortunately all that was damaged was the aeroplane. The insurance paid out (to the best of my knowledge).
As for the insurance, I am betting that if the pilot has any he will be paid out too. That is just what I have witnessed over the last 4 decades.
I know several pilots that had to match the insurer dollar for dollar, that is pay half the damages, as they were operating outside of coverage stipulations. One for not doing a low pass to check for animals and hitting a roo on touchdown, another for operating at an aerodrome unfit for use and so on. These incidents were all aircraft I managed so I know exactly what the insurance companies will baulk at. Some of the bills were upwards of $50k to the pilot.