Airbubba mentioned some earlier PPRuNe discussion on WX radar training, and that contains a link to another PPRuNe discussion where Archie Trammell, who is considered a bit of a guru when it comes to WX radar, has written an article in a 1987 issue of Business and Commercial Aviation.
For ease of reference (and to enable printing it off or for easy storage), that article is here: Weather Radar (Archie Trammell)
Thanks for sharing this, I remember Archie saying to always look for ground return on the other side of a cell to make sure more weather was not hidden by attenuation. The Southern Air 242 crash had occurred a few years earlier.
There is more than one kind of "Dark" in aviation in this part of the world. One is when the sun is down. The other is when all cockpit windows are covered by newspapers and blankets while the pilots watch movies or play games on their IPADs.
I have been waiting for this accident to happen. I am only surprised it took so long.
And it's not just 'Asian' crews. Some of the folks I fly with still think it is an entitlement to play video games and watch movies on their tablets while at the controls. After NW 188 overflew MSP five years ago and the feds pulled the pilots' tickets some of this stuff died down but now it's getting worse, not better in my observation. The hotwire plug to somehow play the movie sound over the ground interphone channel has resurfaced.
I did a no kidding low vis takeoff in a widebody recently, crosswind, about a light and a half visible on the centerline, sanded ice on the runway. As we start to roll, my coworker in the other seat whips out his iPhone to video the event. I started to say something but it was a long trip ahead and some of these folks act like you've taken away their birthday if you mildly imply that the captain is in command. I guess it's a generational culture thing.
Anyway, I could sure see a scenario where the pilots are distracted by portable electronic devices and realize late in the video game that they need to avoid severe weather.