Dangers of Flying Cross Country

A critical examination of flying cross country at night indicates that pilots must be more
attentive than when flying during the day. It is vital to acknowledge that night flying offers some
of the best experiences to pilots in their aviation careers because of the challenges they may
encounter when flying. One of the dangers of night flying is poor night vision. Notably, it is
worth noting that there is darkness during the night, which may pose a challenge to clear vision.
Poor night vision prevents pilots from seeing well at night, and this may be a source of danger.
The problem of poor night vision can be mitigated by encouraging the pilot to take about thirty
minutes to allow their eyes to adjust to the darkness. It is vital to acknowledge that the rods in the
eyes responsible for night vision often take about thirty minutes to adjust to the darkness. If the
pilot has to use a flashlight in the cockpit, then it has to have a colored lens, especially as white
light destroys night vision.
Additionally, runway lighting may be a source of danger during night flying. Pilots are
often encouraged to take their time and locate a landing field before they can opt to land. In a
case where the runway lighting is composed of bright lights, a blinding effect may occur, making
it difficult for pilots to land the airplane (Beringer et al., 2018). The solution to runway lighting
issues is the use of High-Intensity Runway Lighting (HIRL), which helps locate the runway at
night without any struggles. Remarkably, once the runway has been spotted, there is a dire need
to lower the intensity of light to low or medium since high-intensity lighting blinds and creates
an impression that you are closer to the runway when you are actually far away.
Also, the black hole effect may pose a danger during night flying in numerous ways.
First, if a pilot is flying into an airport with few lights around it, there are high chances that
determining the height and distance from the runway would be difficult. Additionally, the black

hole effect may cause premature landing, which may be dangerous. It is vital to acknowledge
that the black hole effect can be mitigated by the use of Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI)
lights, which provide visual descent guidance information when an aircraft is approaching the
runway. Also, pilots can use the Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) lights, which offer
higher precision for locating the runway.
The other source of danger for night flying is a false horizon. Notably, pilots may find it
difficult to see things clearly in the sky with poor night vision. In most cases, clouds may give a
false impression to pilots about a horizon that does not exist. Also, the mixture of different street
lights may also make a false horizon appear. The best way to deal with false horizons is to
continuously scan with the aim of verifying that the attitude indicator and natural horizon are
matching. Pilots are often encouraged to use the instruments in the cockpits to establish if what
they see really exists. Strobe lights may also pose a danger to night flying because they can blind
pilots on the ramp. The best way to avoid the blinding effect of the strobe lights is to use nav
lights until the airplane takes off; then, the strobe lights can be turned on.

References

Beringer, D. B., Domino, D. A., & Kamienski, J. (2018, September). Pilot performance using
head-up and head-down synthetic-vision displays for SA CAT I approaches. In
Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 62,
No. 1, pp. 57-61). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.