AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 106

FLY WITH AOPA
NEW FROM ASI /
ASI TIPS /
Dazed and
confused
Avoiding spatial disorientation
BY ALICIA HERRON
PILOTS DEPRIVED OF visual references while flying
can quickly lose control of the aircraft and
succumb to one of general aviation's biggest
killers: spatial disorientation. While the physiology
and dangers of spatial disorientation are
taught during primary and instrument flight
training, pilots can still misunderstand spatial
disorientation and how to deal with it. Here
are some tips on how you can avoid its hazards.
Maintain VFR. If you're not instrumentrated,
do not enter instrument conditions.
This seems basic, but every year, unqualified
pilots fly into clouds. Establish sensible
personal weather minimums and resist the
temptation and pressures to exceed them.
If you enter these conditions inadvertently,
make a 180-degree turn and exit these conditions
as soon as possible.
Fly within your (and your aircraft's)
capabilities. Make a commitment to fly
within your capabilities. Maintaining VFR
isn't always enough to avoid spatial disorientation.
Use judgment and discipline to avoid
conditions you may not be prepared for,
such as marginal or night VFR conditions. If
you're flying on IFR flight plans and in IMC,
106
AOPA PILOT / January 2022
maintain your aircraft to manufacturer's
recommended IFR standards to minimize
any chance that systems won't work when
you need them most and install a redundant
power source for any gyro instruments. Be
familiar with the aircraft you're flying. Make
sure you're familiar with the instrument
panel, the handling characteristics, and the
aircraft's speed. This is more critical at night,
when visibility inside the cockpit as well as
outside is reduced.
Choose your route carefully. If flying in
marginal conditions or at night, pick a route
that provides the best outside visual reference,
even if it lengthens the flight; over land
rather than over water, for example, or over
areas with ground lighting instead of undeveloped
countryside.
Get an instrument rating. There is
nothing you can do, no piece of equipment
you can put in the panel, that will do more to
protect you from the confusion that kills than
the ability to correctly interpret flight instruments
and control the aircraft accordingly.
Once you earn the rating, keep your instrument
skills not only current, but proficient,
and keep your partial panel skills polished.
All pilots are susceptible to spatial disorientation-don't
underestimate just how
powerful it can be. Prepare now and know
what to do to avoid loss of control just in case
it happens to you.
Watch this Accident Case Study where
a VFR-only pilot accepted an IFR clearance
with tragic results. alicia.herron@aopa.org
airsafetyinstitute.org/ACS/
blindoverbakersfield
Early Analysis:
N7022G /
On October 11, 2021, a
Cessna 340 crashed into
a neighborhood in Santee,
California, killing the pilot and
one person on the ground
and seriously injuring two
others. The pilot, who was
experienced in the airplane,
had flown this exact route
several times prior to the
accident. As the pilot was
vectored for the approach
into Montgomery-Gibbs
Executive Airport, weather
conditions were turbulent
with ragged ceilings from
1,700 feet to 2,000 feet above
ground level. In the video Early
Analysis: N7022G, the AOPA
Air Safety Institute makes a
preliminary assessment of the
accident, addressing notable
portions of the tragic flight
and highlighting areas the
NTSB will likely investigate to
determine a probable cause.
airsafetyinstitute.org/
EarlyAnalysis/N7022G
Read the AOPA Air
Safety Institute's Spatial
Disorientation Safety Spotlight
to learn more about factors
that might have contributed to
this accident.
airsafetyinstitute.org/
spotlight/spacialdisorientation
'There I Was:
Huey Ferry Flight' /
David Bradley joins ASI to talk
about ferrying a flight of Bell
UH-1 " Huey " helicopters from
Jefferson City, Missouri, down to
Ellington Air Force Base in Texas
during Operation Desert Storm.
En route, the flight encounters
weather issues and more.
airsafetyinstitute.org/
thereiwas
MIKE FIZER

http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/earlyanalysis/n7022g http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/earlyanalysis/n7022g http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/spotlight/spacialdisorientation http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/spotlight/spacialdisorientation http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/thereiwas http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/ACS/blindoverbakersfield http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/thereiwas http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/ACS/blindoverbakersfield

AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022

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