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- November, 1979 Air New Zealand DC-10 on a sightseeing flight
from New Zealand to Antarctica crashes into a mountain during white out conditions,
killing all 257 people on board.
- June, 1999 A sightseeing flight in Alaska; 7 souls on board.
The aircraft crashes into a mountain at 130 knots. There were no survivors.
Probable cause: Flat light conditions and spatial disorientation.
- September, 1999 Near Juneau, Alaska; Three helicopters crash within a
2-mile radius of one another. All rotorcraft sustain substantial damage.
Flat light is listed as the major factor in all three accidents. Rescue operations
were most difficult and delayed as a result of weather conditions.
- Near Girdwood, Alaska on a photo flight mission Weather is a
good blue-sky day. The pilot traveled from the side to the shaded side of a
mountain ridge. The change in light conditions created flat light. This lack of
definition on the shaded side of the ridge caused the pilot to lose depth perception
and scrape the ridge area. The pilot managed to land safely but with much damage
to the helicopter.
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