Night Flying: Make it Darker to See Better

Stephen Pope

Wednesday, August 03, 2011 at 11:07 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Night vision requires 30-45 minutes to adapt to darkness, and this adaptation is easily lost by exposure to bright lights.
To preserve night vision, pilots should turn down cockpit lighting, avoid looking directly at bright sources, and use low-gain flashlights.
Pilots must be thoroughly familiar with the aircraft cockpit, practicing control location (e.g., via a "blind cockpit check") to safely operate in the dark.

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Flying at night requires an understanding of how darkness affects a pilot’s vision and what you can do to make sure you make the most of your night-limited vision.

The most important aspect of night flying with respect to vision acuity is to realize that it takes 30 to 45 minutes for your eyes to fully adapt to minimal light conditions. And if you look directly at a bright light for more than about a second, you’ll need to start the clock all over again and reacclimatize to the darkness.