It was a dark and not-at-all-stormy night. A relatively inexperienced pilot was about six miles from home, descending for the airport, which was in sight. During the descent, the pilot suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if something was about to go terribly wrong on what had otherwise been an uneventful flight. Terrain! Passing through about 2,300 feet the pilot suddenly realized he didn't know where he was relative to the ridgelines just west of the airport. It was pure black just ahead and below. Was he too low? How high were the ridges and the towers atop them? He cobbed the throttle, pulled the nose up, and zoomed the Piper Warrior up a thousand feet.
展开▼