On November 23, 1995, a Cessna 210L (registration N5138Q) was involved in an aviation accident near Grand Canyon, AZ. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: the pilot's loss of aircraft control as a result of spatial disorientation. Factors were: the pilot's lack of experience in instrument and night flight conditions, inadequate transition/upgrade training, and the dark night light condition. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
An aircraft departing at night was found 3/4 mile off the departure end of the runway after impacting level terrain in a nose-low, left wing-low attitude. The pilot, recently licensed with limited night and instrument experience, had completed a checkout in the aircraft the previous day during daylight VFR conditions.
Accident Description
The aircraft departed at night with no witnesses present. An emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal led to the discovery of the aircraft three-quarters of a mile beyond the departure end of the runway. Impact marks indicated that the aircraft struck level terrain in a nose-low, left wing-low attitude.
Pilot Background
The pilot, a recently licensed private pilot, had trained in a Cessna 172. His flight experience included 3.2 hours of night flight and 1 hour of simulated instrument flight. The day before the accident, he completed a 20-hour checkout in the accident aircraft, which also served as his high performance aircraft checkout. This checkout was conducted during daylight under visual flight rules and did not include any actual or simulated instrument flight.
Environmental Factors
Local pilots reported that the departure area is devoid of lighting at night, describing it as a "black hole" that requires flight by reference to instruments immediately after takeoff to maintain orientation.