Just because the video does not show lights, does not mean that the pilots cannot see the lights. Nighttime affects cameras in strange ways.
I agree with that, but man, you guys just wanna argue about anything lol. The man making the post is a veteran pilot of the C-130 and currently flies the A350K and is just sharing his opinion that he would never do such a dangerous and terrifying thing since he doesn't see the lights until touchdown, that's all.
Of course the cameras capture things differently than the eyesight, especially in low lighting conditions but it's still difficult to see no matter what and can easily be much worse. It's not a walk in the park by any means. Everyone and their mothers know you need nerves of steel and a lot of specific training to do that on a regular basis. A commendable strength of naval aviators across the world.
In the video, the tower lights actually become visible around 310 meters (minute 0:19) and the deck lights start appearing at 170 meters (minute 0:30) or so. I think it's meters (anyone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).
He says he doesn't see the carrier until touchdown which is a slight exaggeration but he's just trying to make his point. It's still pretty damn scary. The Rafale's angle of attack and the HUD symbols obscure the deck lights more so in the clip.
Not only the challenging visibility of nighttime carrier landings, but also multi-tasking the rest of the procedure; maintaining the proper altitude in the approach while relying on the combination of instrumentation and eyesight; the correct airspeed and AoA; catching the wire and having the wherewithal to get the jet back airborne incase of a bolter. Must have great courage, also.
You listen to many US Navy pilots they'll always say it's one of the most nerve-racking things to do, obviously. In inclement weather with high seas, that deck is also rising and falling by a good 30'+/-. Balance that with the pitch-black conditions and woohoo, fun fun fun.
SOP in the US Navy stipulates that in time of war, the carrier must have minimal lighting to be less visible to the enemy. So they shut down as much as possible and barely leave a few lights on the tower and deck, adding to the degree of difficulty. I remember watching a video of F/A-18s returning from sorties in pitch black nighttime conditions and the weather was brutal. The entire squadron was taking turns landing one after the other. Pounding rain and winds with high seas causing the deck to heave up and down that several aircraft had to abort their landings and try again. They only had so many chances to land because of fuel running out and a ban on A2A refueling. The last guy had to go around a couple of times and was flying on fumes! He finally made it but he had to drop that thing like a rock with sparks flying all over the place because he ran out of chances. He had reached the point where it was land or crash. Insane. I don't think they wear diapers, either.
