Cessna 210 Centurion / Turbo Centurion 210C; 210D
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 52; Flight Crew Total 1800; Flight Crew Type 655
Fatigue; Situational Awareness
Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors; Airport
I arrived from the west and after being initially lined up for a straight-in approach to Runway 7; was advised to turn north and follow a Cessna; which landed on Runway 18 after an ILS in visual conditions. I had not realized how much time the Cessna would need on the runway and as a result had turned in too close behind; the Cessna couldn't back-taxi and clear the runway in time for me to land; so I needed to do a missed approach from short final on Runway 18. The Controller advised that I could choose to land on any runway as winds were calm. From my position above Runway 18 heading south; I decided to circle to land on Runway 7 and noted that to the Controller; who then cleared me to land on Runway 7. All of this would have been fine had I properly climbed to pattern altitude and circled to land. However; in my muddled mental state after a long and difficult 9-hour cross-country trip; I climbed and visually flew what I thought was a reasonable pattern; staying clear of the hill on the southwest side of the field with it's red light on top. However; after turning past that hill; my altitude in fact topped out at 1;200 FT MSL; and instead of going on up to 1;400 or 1;600 MSL for a proper pattern; my altitude in fact gradually decreased. I failed to recognize as I flew into the inky blackness of the valley; and importantly; did not check my altimeter and compare what I saw to what a reasonable pattern altitude ought to be. My head was outside the cockpit and I was operating visually; but with visual cues that were sparse and ultimately of no real value. Soon I was over the Vermont side of the river in darkness; with the town lights off to my right; and dark terrain ahead and below. To cap off my loss of situational awareness; I recall actually saying out loud; 'Now where is that airport?' At about the same time; my son in the back seat exclaimed something that turned out to be about our being really close to the trees. By the time I figured out what he was trying to say; we had already passed over the hilltop that had surprised him (and that I was; incredibly; unaware of.) I commenced a climb in my right turn back toward Runway 7; and was really surprised to see all reds on the PAPI. After that; the final approach to Runway 7 was below a normal glide path but led to an essentially uneventful landing. The shock of how close we came to disaster and how completely unaware I was of the situation has not really worn off. On reviewing recorded data from my GPS MAP 496; I found that my altitude had deteriorated from 1;200 FT MSL down to 875 FT MSL just as I passed over the hill near the quarry across the river in Vermont; where the terrain elevation was 650 FT MSL. Just a little to the left of my flight path was the top of that hill at 700 FT MSL. I was unaware of any of this terrain and frankly unaware of my altitude at this time. Basically I cleared the trees by about 200 FT without even being aware I was close. I have done a lot of night flying and flown into a good number of 'black-hole' airports before. In the past I've always stayed safely above terrain by having a mental model of where I needed to be and at what altitude. This is just basic airmanship. I think the go-around at night with a circle to land after a long trip was something I was not mentally prepared for. I needed to transition from final approach and arrival mode; to night VFR in the pattern; and didn't make that transition properly. That's the sort of thing a pilot has to always be prepared for; and on this particular night I wasn't. I am going to refresh the habit of calculating a pattern altitude for all airports I'm arriving at; and ensuring I don't drop below that floor until I've got the runway in sight in front of me; particularly if it's night and most particularly if I need to circle to land. And I think I'll be doing whatever I reasonably can to avoid circling at night in the first place; especially at the end of a cross-country flight. I thinkit also might have been possible for the Controller on duty to keep an eye out for the potential incompetence of the pilot in this case; and to have issued a low-altitude alert. I'm thinking that if I can make this kind of error; then others might be susceptible to this sort of error as well in the future. Of course; after [Tower closing] nobody would be there to provide additional warnings; but in this case; it might have been possible. On the other hand; from the Tower it may be common to lose sight of aircraft southwest of the airport; given the hill with its red light on the southwest corner of the airfield. But I would suggest all controllers be reminded of the potential dangers of CFIT to aircraft maneuvering around airports with hilly terrain in visual conditions at night; and urged to provide an extra level of security to those flights whenever possible. The aircraft in this incident has essentially original 1978 avionics; except for an enroute GPS. A more modern GPS moving map in the panel such as a 430W / 530W or newer would most likely have issued visual and audible warnings of an impending collision with terrain in this case. Although I have a 496 which also does this; it is not tied into the audio system of the aircraft; and so I can't hear its' audio output -- something I intend to change right away; as a stopgap measure until the time that I am able to proceed with a fuller panel upgrade.
C210 pilot reports a CFTT during a night circiling approach to Runway 7 after a missed approach from Runway 18 in VMC.