What happened
During a training mission designed to prepare two first officers for captain upgrades, an instructor pilot and a student pilot were conducting maneuvers in the air. The flight involved a series of simulated failures intended to test the student's proficiency. Initially, the instructor disabled the student's attitude indicator, which led to difficulties in maintaining stable flight. During a simulated instrument approach, the instructor introduced an additional simulated engine failure while the aircraft was performing a procedure turn.
As the student pilot became disoriented due to the combined simulated malfunctions, they requested that the instructor take control of the aircraft. The instructor declined this request. The accident took place over the ocean during a night flight under moonless conditions.
Findings
Investigation into the accident revealed that the instructor had been intentionally obscuring his own flight instrument lights by turning the rheostat to the 'dim' position. This action was taken to prevent the student from being able to see the instructor's functional attitude indicator. Physical examination of the wreckage confirmed that the instructor's light rheostat was indeed set to the dim position at the time of the crash. Furthermore, it was determined that neither the FAA nor the aircraft operator had knowledge that the instructor was utilizing Block Island for these training sessions or was employing these specific instructional techniques.