Single-Engine Airplane Risks Sometimes Escalate

Add night, mountains, or IMS, and the situation can worsen quickly.

Douglas Boyd

Tuesday, September 02, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Night flying is a classic good-news, bad-news story. [Credit: David Weaver/ChatGPT]

Key Takeaways:

Operating single-engine aircraft at night or over rising terrain significantly elevates the risk of fatal accidents, with night flights being 2.2 times riskier and hilly terrain leading to higher fatality rates compared to daytime or flat-terrain operations.
In the event of an engine failure at night, pilots must critically assess diverse emergency landing options beyond just the nearest airport, including major highways (which statistically show a relatively good safety record for emergency landings) and large, flat fields (aided by modern EFB/synthetic vision).
Effective risk mitigation strategies include maintaining higher altitudes for extended glide range and more decision time, proactive flight planning to ensure constant proximity to suitable landing sites, adhering to conservative weather minimums for night flights, and leveraging technology or crew support.

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Poring over accident reports is my mainstay as an aviation safety researcher, and after many years I’ve developed a thick skin about most accidents I research.

However, a fatal accident (November 2023/NTSB ERA24FA050) involving a turbocharged Piper Saratoga (N4187Q) on an IFR flight plan between Scott Municipal Airport (KSCX) in Oneida, Tennessee, and H.L. Sonny Callahan Airport (KCQF) in Fairhope, Alabama, struck close to home.