EFTA02418572

To: From: Sent: Sat 10/2/2010 10:17:48 PM Subject: C172 flight recap I have read your story several times and would like to give you my opinion, which could have been a fatal night for you,. there is a publication put out by the NTSB. that details all small aircraft accidents and incidents, a lot are fatal, but don't get the public attention since they are small aircraft owned privately, flying is dangerous, and experience comes with time., I think becoming a flight instructor is a good route to gain time and experience,. A couple things baffle me about your incident, if you had an alternator failure, why didn't the battery give you power for the Minimum of 30 minuets of operation in an emergency? or do you think it was an alternator failure, and the battery went dead after 30 minuets, not realizing the alternator had failed,. either way, you never keep resetting a popped circuit breaker, you could have started a fire in the cockpit, a breaker pops for a reason, and normally you are given ONE chance to reset, incase it is a weak breaker, remember, a circuit breaker is installed for circuit protection, and if there is a real short, by you resetting this breaker over and over, a real fire could start,. Did you declare and emergency? did you tell the controller you where having communication problems or full electrical failure? there is a big difference, and a serious emergency while in IFR conditions. You are correct when you said, you should have spent the night in Lakeland, avoiding a single engine night flight, over the everglades in IFR from Gainesville to Opalocka, would have been a good decision. ! remember, being a Captain is all about decision making, some are split second decisions and some are well thought out lengthy decisions, that are done while flight planning. Did you just rely on the little experience the other pilot had to make weather decisions for you?, you should have know better than to put yourself in this situation,. rushing, free flight time, inexpeiranced pilot, and not looking at the weather is recipe for disaster!! Remember when we stopped while flying the C182 to Jacksonville to pick up the Boeing, and drove the rest of the way, since I didn't feel comfortable with the weather ahead? what do you think I would have told you, if you asked me whether to fly at night over the everglades, when weather is IFR from Gainesville to Miami in an old C172 you are not familiar with? I don't want anything to happen to you, FLY only SAFE, Larry EFTA_R1_01483985 EFTA02418572