Technique: Night landings

Don’t go there

Check for hazards and restrictions first

Would you fly in to West Virginia’s Elkins-Randolph County Airport at night? If the terrain depicted on the sectional chart doesn’t give you pause, the remarks in the chart supplement should: “Rwy 14–32 CLOSED dusk–dawn.” There’s no prohibition against landing on Runway 5/23, but factors such as terrain, lighting, obstructions, runway length available, and your familiarity with the area should influence your decision whether to stay away. Many pilots minimize risk with personal minimums that they won’t fly in mountainous terrain at night. —SD

Night landing illusions

How your eyes play tricks

Even during the day, the size and slope of a runway may create illusions that the airplane is higher or lower than it actually is. At night, darkness may amplify those illusions by reducing the visual references available to orient yourself—and that lack of visual cues creates some illusions specific to night flight. When landing at night, use the VASI or PAPI and any available navaids to help you maintain a normal descent.

Black-hole approach. Airports may be simple to spot when they’re surrounded by unlit terrain or water, but the lack of peripheral visual cues makes it difficult to orient oneself. The pilot may feel as if the aircraft is higher than it actually is, leading to a lower than normal approach.

Ground lighting illusions. Bright runway and approach lights may make the runway appear closer, resulting in a higher approach. Areas with few lights on the ground may lead to a lower approach.

Runway width illusion. A pilot may perceive a narrow runway as farther away and fly a lower approach—or, conversely, come in too high to a wider than normal runway.

Slope illusions. Up-sloping runways give the impression that the airplane is higher than it is; down-sloping runways have the opposite effect.

Atmospheric illusions. Haze or rain on the windscreen may make the pilot think she is higher or farther from the runway than she is. —SD

Click click click…

Runway lights in your control

At nontowered airports, or after the tower is closed, lighting systems such as runway or approach lights may be controlled by keying the mic on a designated frequency—usually, but not always, on the common traffic advisory frequency. Check the chart supplement for the types of lighting, runways, and frequency used to activate the system. Keying the mic seven times in five seconds when you are near the airport ensures all controlled lights are on the maximum available intensity. Then, you can adjust the intensity by keying the mic three times for the lowest intensity or five times for medium intensity if the system has one. Activating pilot-controlled lighting systems turns them on for 15 minutes. —SD