PilotPerception

In this special 53-minute interview episode of Pilot Perception, Dr. John Hovanesian sits down for a masterclass interview with Dr. Alan Kozarsky—one of the nation’s most prominent ophthalmologists, Senior Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs), and a leading expert on FAA aeromedical standards. Whether you are a student pilot trying to pass your initial exam, or a professional captain facing a sudden vision issue or a Statement of Demonstrated Ability (SODA) requirement, Dr. Kozarsky pulls back the curtain on the federal medical certification process. In this comprehensive human factors and aeromedical deep dive, we discuss:• The Reality of FAA Vision Waivers: How the FAA evaluates vision loss, eye diseases, and the medical ethics behind modern flight physicals.• How to Handle a First-Class Medical Deficit: Crucial advice on when to consult a specialist Senior AME and how to build a rock-solid case for your medical file.Reading an eye chart is only the bare minimum. Understanding the regulatory and physiological factors of vision is what keeps your career alive and your flying safe.If you found this interview valuable, please subscribe and share this episode with your fellow aviators and flight instructors! Keep learning, keep looking outside, and fly safely.

Resources for this episode:

* FAA InFO bulletin 12008 regarding carrying a spare set of corrective lenses: https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/InFO12008.pdf

* Link to cataract surgery and advanced lens implant information from FAA: https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/FAQS-Cataracts_Lens_Implant.pdf

* AME CACI glaucoma worksheet from FAA: https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/C-CACIGlaucoma.pdf

Music credit: “Rescue Me” by Liqwyd

You have excellent 20/20 vision under ideal conditions—but flying rarely gives us ideal conditions. We look through haze, glare, dirty windscreens, dry eyes, and aging lenses.

If the target is faint or the background is washed out, an eye chart won’t save you. Welcome to Episode 3 of Pilot Perception.

In this episode, John Hovanesian—an experienced eye surgeon and CFII—unpacks why visual contrast matters just as much as focus for aviators. Discover the hidden elements that steal your contrast in flight and the surprisingly simple steps you can take to protect your vision.

What this episode is about:

• Beating Atmospheric Scatter: Why Rayleigh scattering and haze create a whitish veil of light that washes out traffic, and how flying higher can get you above the bulk of it.

• The problem with polarized sunglasses in the cockpit: Why you should avoid polarized glasses in general aviation (including display blackouts and windscreen birefringence).

• The proper way to clean a windscreen: How dirty or scratched windscreens create dangerous forward light scatter, and why horizontal wiping strokes prevent false horizons.

• Some reality about dry eye: How common dehydration and unmanaged dry eye drastically distort your visual signal, and what you can do about it.

• Cataract, and its real impact on pilots: Understanding how age-related lens changes starting around age 40 cause bright light scatter, and what it means for your FAA Class 1 medical.

Reading letters on a chart is only one piece of the puzzle. Learn how to protect your eyes, preserve contrast, and safely enjoy the view outside your aircraft.

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Substack: https://pilotperception.substack.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pilotperception

If you found this lesson valuable, please like, subscribe, and share it with another pilot!

Keep learning, keep looking outside, and fly safely.

Music credit: “Rescue Me” by Liqwyd

Approach tells you there's traffic at 2 o'clock, 3 miles, same altitude. You stare exactly where it should be, see nothing, and suddenly the airplane materializes a whole lot closer than expected. You have 20/20 vision—so how does this happen? Welcome to Episode 2 of Pilot Perception. In this episode, Dr. John Hovanesian—an experienced eye surgeon and CFII—breaks down why clear vision isn't enough to prevent mid-air collisions, using real-world case studies like the tragic 2025 Reagan National Airport (DCA) collision. Discover the physiological and psychological traps that make traffic spotting so difficult, and learn actionable techniques to optimize your eyes in the skies.What this video solves for you:• Overcoming Expectation Bias: Why looking only where you expect traffic can cause you to miss the real threat.• Defeating the "Blossom Effect": How planes on a direct collision course have zero relative motion and seem to appear out of nowhere.• Fixing Empty-Field Myopia: How to prevent your eyes from focusing too close when flying in a featureless sky.• Managing Cockpit Blind Spots: Physical strategies to look around door posts, wings, and windshield obstructions.• Balancing ADS-B: Using traffic displays to direct your eyes outside rather than getting fixated inside the cockpit.• Night Vision Scanning: How to utilize off-center viewing to spot faint targets in the dark.Whether you're a student pilot prepping for a checkride, a seasoned captain, an air traffic controller, or an avionics designer, this episode delivers critical human factors training to keep the skies safe.Follow Pilot Perception on Substack for premium, deep-dive aviation content: https://pilotperception.substack.com/Music credit: “Rescue me” by Liqwyd If you found this lesson valuable, please like, subscribe on , and share it with another pilot on the platforms below.

Keep learning, keep looking outside, and fly safely!

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@pilotperceptionInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/pilotperception/

What is more important to pilots than vision? And yet so many pilots get so much wrong about our most important flight instrument—our eyes.

I’ve been an eye surgeon for more than 30 years, and I’m also a certified flight and instrument instructor. With this unique combination, I’m frequently amazed by how little most pilots are taught about how vision actually works in the cockpit.

Pilots spend so much time learning aircraft’s systems and avionics, how to navigate, weather, mechanics of flight, regulations and airspace, and instrument procedures. Yet the most important part of flying, which is putting all that together, depends largely on how well we can perceive what is happening around us.

That is why we’re creating Pilot Perception. Please consider subscribing (for free)! We’ll be releasing short, instructional videos as well as longer interview podcast segments in both audio (Spotify, Apple Podcasts) and video (YouTube). We’ll be talking with world experts in eye care, aviation medicine, human factors engineering, perceptual science, flight instruction, avionics, and other fields.

Thanks to my global relationships as a leader in the eye care industry, I’ve known some of these experts for many years. And through this community, we’ll be connected with others who can also bring something to teach.

Pilot Perception is looking for a community of aviators, aviation industry folks, and flying enthusiasts who want to better understand vision, sensory perception, and the human factors that influence the decisions we make in airplanes.

Many pilots are surprised that vision turns out to be way more complicated than seeing 20/20 on an eye chart. People with “perfect” vision often miss traffic that’s a potential threat. That’s because haze can make a close by airplane disappear against its background. Glare, dirty windscreens, dry eyes, cataracts, and other factors can reduce contrast and make perfectly clear objects very difficult to see.

Understanding tricks for spotting traffic and how to improve contrast is just our starting point.

We’ll explore:

* night vision and visual illusions

* glare, haze, contrast, and atmospheric light scatter

* sunglasses, windscreens, cockpit lighting, and avionics displays

* dry eye, cataracts, LASIK, PRK, eyeglasses, and contact lenses

* preparing for the vision portion of an FAA medical examination

* spatial disorientation and sensory conflict

* why pilots sometimes fail to perceive something that is directly in front of them

* how attention, expectation, and experience influence what we believe we see

When tragedy strikes and airplanes go down, we often ask, “How could that happen?” Sometimes, the better we understand perception, the better we understand how that could happen.

Our big goal is not to teach overly complicated science, but to make flying safer by taking complicated concepts and put them in the context that aviators need.

If what we do here prevents just one accident, it will all be worthwhile.

Please subscribe to PilotPerception here on Substack! We will send subscribers new articles and episodes just as soon as they are released, every couple weeks, and with time we’ll be developing premium content for those interested in a deeper dive.

You can also find us at PilotPerception.com, on YouTube, and on Instagram. Please share this with pilots and others you know who might love to learn.

Keep learning. Keep looking outside. Keep flying safely.

— John A. Hovanesian, MD, CFII

Music credit: Music downloaded on Chosic on 8/17/26, “Rescue me” by Liqwyd