We are told to trust our instruments but many times our body tells us we are descending and turning when in reality we are flying straight and level. It takes discipline to trust our instruments and also vow to never fly into IFR conditions if we are not instrument current and competent. Today we discuss how to prevent and how to mitigate spatial disorientation.

“The majority of weather accidents were VFR flights into IMC. Additionally, this category had the largest number of fatal accidents and the highest lethality rate.” – Nall Report 2018

Sponsor: AviationCareersPodcast.com – Scholarships, Career Coaching, and Interview Preparation.

News And Announcements:

Sun N Fun APRIL 2-7, 2019

Florida Pilot Conference Facebook Info

Tickets for Florida Pilot Conference: May 4th, 2019

In a past episode we briefly discussed basic med and there where a few questions regarding Basic Med. AOPA has a great resource online for basic med. You can find it at AOPA and searching on basic med or simply click on the link here in the show notes:

What Is Spatial Disorientation – Spatial disorientation specifically refers to the lack of orientation with regard to the position, attitude, or movement of the airplane in space.

Systems in our body – Vestibular, Somatosensory , Visual.

Why VMC to IMC is usually fatal:

During flight in visual meteorological conditions (VMC), the eyes are the major orientation source and usually prevail over false sensations from other sensory systems

Experiences with spatial disorientation caused by flying.

When these visual cues are removed, as they are in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), false sensations can cause a pilot to quickly become disoriented.

“Unless a pilot has many hours of training in instrument flight, flight should be avoided in reduced visibility or at night when the horizon is not visible.” – PHAK

“Illusions rank among the most common factors cited as contributing to fatal aviation accidents.” – PHAKT

Systems our body uses to orient our body

Types of spatial disorientation.

Visual Illusions

Prevention.

Picks Of The Week:

Carl – FAA Spatial Disorientation and Aerospace Medicine Reference Collection

Russ – Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot by Mark Vanhoenacker

Tom – Cirus Approach Learning Catalog

Rick – Fly8MA Episode on Spatial Disorientation

Larry – Cloud Topper pilot sight level

Links Mentioned In The Podcast:

AOPA Nall Report

Bold Method blog on Spatial Disorientation

Sun N Fun Fly In

FAA Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge

Florida Pilot Conference

Photo Credit: Russ Roslewski

The post SMAC202 Spatial Disorientation And Prevention appeared first on Stuck Mic AvCast.