Non-pilot subjects were flown in a small aircraft and asked to interpret the artificial horizon after being spatially disorientated. The majority of participants wrongly interpreted the instrument due to feeling the ‘leans’, when our eyes and ears generate confusing signals to the brain.
关键的事实
- Spatial disorientation leading to the ‘leans’ has been recognised as a significant hazard in aviation and there have been several commercial air transport accidents in which it has been identified as a causal factor.
- 40 non-pilot subjects were flown in the National Flying Laboratory Centre’s Bulldog aircraft, in collaboration with TNO Human Factors and TU Delft in the Netherlands.
- Subjects were blindfolded while a test pilot flew gentle rolling manoeuvres, then removed the blindfold. The subjects were then asked to return the aircraft to the wings-level position using only the artificial horizon (AH) instrument.
- The results suggest that pilots experiencing spatial disorientation, with the incorrect expectation leading to the ‘leans’, are more prone to make an error while attempting to correct the upset using the AH.
上图: The NFLC Bulldog training aircraft.
上图: 驾驶舱内部, a) AI, b) the subject holding the centre-stick and c) the inertial measurement unit.
澳门太阳集团城研究的影响
积极, participants were better able to prevent errors when they took more time before responding. This supports the drive to provide enhanced upset recovery training to help pilots prevent incorrect, 直观的反应.
It may be useful to provide additional advice to pilots to alert them that they have been subjected to a manoeuvre likely to induce spatial disorientation as an aid to upset recovery; this could be based on existing multi-sensory models to predict spatial disorientation events.
This research could also have implications for the design of instruments and cockpit layouts to make it easier for disorientated pilots to re-familiarise themselves with the position of their aircraft.
Why the research was commissioned
Spatial disorientation has been identified as a significant hazard in aviation.
飞行员的期望, startle and upset recovery training are active areas of research following several commercial air transport accidents in which spatial disorientation has been identified as a causal factor.
This work is part of a collaborative programme of work with Visiting Professor Eric Groen from TNO Soesterberg and Dr Annemarie Landman from TU Delft in Holland.
为什么克兰菲尔德?
Our National Flying Laboratory Centre (NFLC) aircraft are virtually unique in the global academic sector and are used to support pioneering research, 教学及顾问.
克兰菲尔德 is unique in the world because we have our own runway, 澳门太阳集团城自己的机场, our own aircraft and our own air navigation service provider.
设施使用
- National Flying Laboratory Centre (NFLC)
- NFLC牛头犬飞机
相关的出版物
This study was published in the Journal of Applied Ergonomics.
