NTSB says EMS accident rate is too high

[Devil 49]

SASless,
I have a hard time accepting the premise that the US HEMS higher night accident rate is due solely to vision.

Not being able to see complicates issues that arise, but I won't continue into an area lacking visual reference in the daytime, and I won't at night. In fact, acknowledging the physiological visual issues at night makes me far less likely to continue into the blackness.

I'm unhappy with the prospect of a precautionary weather landing, but I'll land before I continue at the risk of an IMC and the emergency that entails in a VFR ship. My perception is that this attitude is the acknowledged norm, yet inadvertent IMC and loss of control happens too frequently for me to not to believe something changes a fundamental attitude.


I won't transit cross country at an altitude less than reasonable obstacle clearance, much less lower than 500 AGL. This too is a common position amongst my peers, but CFIT happens at night in circumstances that make me think there's a poorer appreciation of the risks at night.


These events occur single/twin, VFR/IFR (even with autopilots), and even dual pilot, although it's much more exceptional in a 2-pilot crew. The common factor is that all of my observations are day/night rotations. But the only all night crews I've ever observed were PHI's night crews...


I've also observed frequent cavalier attitudes towards nights, as mentioned in my previous posts, in the pilot pool. It's reasonable to think that if I've seen pilots burning the candle at both ends, then it's happening elsewhere and is at least potentially contributory.


I have my own improvised self assessment routine based on my experience, and there is a difference in intellectual agility while I am shifting to nights. To date, I've always been adequate to the challenge, but I can see the approximation to the designated driver situation- it's better to decide before you're snockered...

Perhaps this is all me seeing what I expect to see based on a laymen's reading of the documentation. But the evidence is widely available that jet lag (in the vernacular) should be a factor considered with greater weight in duty schedules. Ten hours of uninterrupted rest is not sufficient to realign circadian cycles to enable approximate 100% intellectual capacity when awake and on duty. It's not sufficient time to realign sleep cycles so that one sleeps and rests efficiently between duty periods to maintain 100% intellect. It's also likely that the poor sleep will be of inadequate amount, accumulating fatigue impairment. These issues are widely discussed everywhere except in aviation. Until an airline crew plows it in after poor rest on the commute to a duty period...