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 and over rising terrain significantly increases the risk of fatal accidents, with night flights being 2.2 times riskier than day flights.
In the event of an engine failure, pilots should consider diverse emergency landing options beyond just the nearest airport, such as major highways (often safer and more visible at night) or open fields (challenging to assess in darkness).
Effective risk mitigation involves maintaining sufficient altitude to maximize glide range, continuously identifying potential landing sites, employing strict weather minimums for night operations, and adopting airline-style engine-out planning over challenging terrain.

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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.