NTSB, relative confirms 4 family members dead.

[granlistillo]

IF that is truly the weather when he took off, he had no business going. New private pilot, IFR conditions, night? YGTBSM.

Like I said, if that truly was the weather.

I have some experience flying in central Florida, at night and during the winter. I always filed IFR because you could be VMC one minute and in a stratus layer the next. With that weather I would not have went VFR at night. Might have been a problem, but then I have no clue what happened though.

 

[wrxpilot]

I have some experience flying in central Florida, at night and during the winter. I always filed IFR because you could be VMC one minute and in a stratus layer the next. With that weather I would not have went VFR at night. Might have been a problem, but then I have no clue what happened though.

It gets dark out there at night, that's for sure. When I was working on my private a few years ago, my CFI took me out to Homestead General for some night landings on a dark, moonless night. That is an airport south of Miami that is bordered by uninhabited swamp land. He briefed me on how difficult it was going to be once I turned downwind, and that I'd have to go to my instruments to complete the turn to base. Even with that pre-briefing, once I was about midfield downwind I lost all sense of the horizon and was quite unsettled. I went to the instruments and was fine, but it was a heck of an eye opener. Years later when I was instructing, I would have my students depart out towards to ocean at night and give them a mini-JFK experience with some pre-planned maneuvers designed to cause SD. Several of them started towards the conditions of a graveyard spiral before I had to intervene. It was very eye opening for them, and I think really gave them a healthy respect for night flying under less than ideal conditions.

 

[fo4ever]

It was just a matter of time before it happened to me. Although I did not know the people, that was the last plane I flew before I stopped training due to being laid off. Really weird to know people died in an aircraft you've flown before. RIP


Me pre-flighting 5269X:

Yep, I've flown two a/c that subsequently crashed and killed all on board. One due to lack of judgement, the other due to mechanical failure because of failed AD compliance.

The latter killed a partner in a law firm... the mechanic went to jail.

Creepy nonetheless.

That being said, there is a reason you need an instrument equipped a/c and an instrument rating to get a special VFR clearance at night.

 

[texas_pilot]

It gets dark out there at night, that's for sure. When I was working on my private a few years ago, my CFI took me out to Homestead General for some night landings on a dark, moonless night. That is an airport south of Miami that is bordered by uninhabited swamp land. He briefed me on how difficult it was going to be once I turned downwind, and that I'd have to go to my instruments to complete the turn to base. Even with that pre-briefing, once I was about midfield downwind I lost all sense of the horizon and was quite unsettled. I went to the instruments and was fine, but it was a heck of an eye opener. Years later when I was instructing, I would have my students depart out towards to ocean at night and give them a mini-JFK experience with some pre-planned maneuvers designed to cause SD. Several of them started towards the conditions of a graveyard spiral before I had to intervene. It was very eye opening for them, and I think really gave them a healthy respect for nig I
Hey, hey, this is why I suggested a crash section for the forum. We're not morbid.
We learn from the mistakes of others. Very much like every time I think I've discoverd new Widget in the world- many others have been already ..
case in point 2003 - carb icing 1/4 mile short of the runway.