FIT-UTP PAEP

Aviation Safety Course

Topic-8B
Hazards to Aviation Safety:
Spatial Disorientation
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What is spatial* disorientation?...
Definition:
A persons inaccurate perception of position,
attitude, motion, or acceleration with respect to the
earth

In short, confusion regarding ones relationship to
the actual environment

*Spatial: from word space, as in 3-D space around a person
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Why do humans get spatial
disorientation?...
Spatial orientation is a product of information
from the sensory organs:
Eyes (considered most important)
inner ears
somatosensory system (nerve sensings of
pressures on muscles, joints, skin, etc)
Spatial disorientation is when the brain
misinterprets that sensory information,
because the indicators are un-natural to the
normal human dynamic environment.


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Dangers of Spatial
Disorientation
May or may not be recognized
Human senses and instincts become
confused
Even IF recognized, pilot may not be able to
recoverphysiological and emotional forces
Over 90% of spatial disorientation accidents
are FATAL!
When most common? Flight into poor
visibility with poor/no use of instruments
Pilots may fail to believe instruments






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Aspects of Spatial
Disorientation
Physical causes:
Linear acceleration
Angular acceleration
Vibration, light and motion sensations
Gravity
Human brain is tricked, resulting in a
breakdown in the mind-body interface
Pilots cannot resolve the sensory conflicts




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Frames of Reference
Normal:
Two-dimensional (2D) motion
Forward, aft, and lateral motion
Slow accelerations/decelerations
Upright body position
Unnatural:
3D motion
Roll, pitch, yaw >angular acceleration
Rapid acceleration/deceleration
Unusual/changing body positions
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Visual Senses
Humans have both object recognition
abilityfocal vision, and ambient or
peripheral vision.
Focal vision occupies @ center 30 degrees of
vision.
Peripheral vision extends from focal to as
much as @90 degrees from center.
Both are needed for good spatial orientation.
Eye vision is considered most important
sense in orientation.
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Vestibular Senses
The inner ear (primarily semicircular
canals and vestibular bones) helps
maintain balance, equilibrium, and
coordinate movements of the head,
neck, and eyes thru the brain.
Three s.c. canals have fluid that senses
roll, pitch, and yaw accelerations.
The v. bones sense gravity, and sense
head tilt and lateral motion.
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Somatosensory Senses
Sensings, reactions, and perceptions
gained from the brain interpreting
changes of pressure on bones, joints,
muscles, and skin caused by physical
forces such as gravity and acceleration/
deceleration in linear and angular
velocities.
Sometimes referred to as seat-of-the-
pants feeling.
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Common Sensory Illusions
Leading cause?illusions originating in
the inner ear
Combination of in-flight motion with
head and body movements can create
hazardous illusions
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Common Vestibular Illusions:
Graveyard Spiral
1. Inner ear fluid stops moving in a prolonged,
coordinated, constant rate turn. Pilot thinks
airplane is level, does not recover, makes
big hole in ground.
2. IF pilot does discover the illusion and apply
correct control inputs, pilot gets new false
sense that airplane is rotating in opposite
direction.
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Common Vestibular Illusions:
Coriolis Illusion

1. Inner ear fluid stops motion in prolonged
climbing or descending turn.
2. An abrupt head movement sets fluid in
motion, and pilot thinks airplane is turning
or accelerating in different direction.
3. Attempts to correct illusory trend lead to
erroneous/hazardous inputs.
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Common Vestibular Illusions:
The Leans
1. In a prolonged banking turn, the inner ear
fluid stops motion.
2. Upon rolling out of the bank, the inner ear
fluid starts moving, making pilot think he is
banking in the opposite direction.
3. IF the pilot responds to the illusion, he will
lean opposite the illusion direction, and
tend to over bank the airplane.
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Common Somato-Gravic Illusion:
Elevator Illusion
1. An abrupt upward acceleration such as from
an updraft, causes pilots eyeballs to shift
downward thru inertial force.
2. Downward movement of eyeballs causes
visual horizon to move upward.
3. This causing the pilot to think he is climbing,
causing him to lower the nose.
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Common Visual Illusions:
Autokinesis
1. In the dark, a stationary light will appear to
move if the viewer stares at it more than 5-
10 seconds.
2. Light may appear to move as fast as 20
degrees/second.
3. Common misperceptions are that fixed stars
are moving aircraft navigation lights.
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Common Visual Illusions:
Black Hole
1. In the dark or very poor visibility without
peripheral visual cues, pilots must rely only
on focal aspect of vision.
2. Pilot senses the airplane is stable, but the
landing site is moving.
3. Common result is landing far short or far
long of intended spot.
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Common Visual Illusions:
White-Out Approaches
1. Similar to the black-hole illusion. Pilot has
few/no peripheral or focal cues and very
limited visibility when landing.
2. Typically occurs when approaching to land
on snow or dust covered site, or when
visibility is poor and there is no visible
horizon.
3. Common result is incorrect pilot control
inputs and a crash landing.
4. Very dangerous for helicopters.
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Common Visual Illusions:
Size or Shape Inconsistencies
1. When pilots get accustomed to objects of
consistent size or shape, they tend to have
depth or orientation problems when viewing
similar objects with inconsistent sizes or
shapes.
2. A common error is flying a low approach to a
wider than typical runway, because pilot
senses he is closer/higher than he should
be.
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Steps to Mitigate Spatial
Disorientation
Increased awareness of what it is and what it does
Recognition of conditions leading to it
Recognition of symptoms of onset of it
Improved and more reliable instruments and avionics
Improved placement of controls and instruments
Attention to detail and better cockpit
organization/management
Developing cognitive mental discipline, and using it
when in hazardous visual conditions
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End of lessonQuestions?
Discussion?