Human Performance & Limitations - Disorientation & Visual Illusions

Question 1

What term describes the state of temporary confusion resulting from misleading information being sent to the brain by various sensory organs?

Answer 1

Spatial disorientation

Question 2

On the ground we sense our attitude with rrespect to the earth from three seperate balance sources? What are these three sources?

Answer 2

Vision

Proprioception

Vestibular Apparatus

Question 3

True or False - Sensory illusions (disorientation) usually only occur when visual clues are poor or ambigous?

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Will the approach angle will be too shallow or steep if the terrain before the runway slopes up towards the threshold

Answer 4

Shallow

Question 5

May the pilot may be confronted with an illusion that the aircraft is too high followed by a tendency to flare too late if the runway is narrower or wider than used to?

Answer 5

Narrower

Question 6

If the runway slopes down, may the pilot be confronted with the illusion that the aircraft is higher or lower than it actually is?

Answer 6

Lower

Question 7

May the pilot be confronted with the illusion that the aircraft is too low followed by a tendency to flare too early if the runway is narrower or wider than the pilot is use to?

Answer 7

Wider

Question 8

In conditions such as fog, smoke, dust, haze or snow where the visibility is significantly reduced, may I pilot think they are further away or closer to an airport or runway than they actually are?

Answer 8

Further away

Question 9

Sloping cloud banks and slopping terrain can give false horizontal cues since the perceived horizon may not be horizontal at all. For instance, if a pilot uses the clouds (which often lie at a considerable angle to the earth’s surface) as a substitute for the natural horizon, what is likley to happen?

Answer 9

The aircraft will fly one wing lower

Question 10

List 4 factors that may make a pilot susceptible to disorientation

Answer 10

Alcohol,

Drugs effecting equilibrium and proprioception - head colds, sinus conditions, blocked eustachian tube,

Stress,

Fatigue,

Headaches,

Sudden head movements, particularly when the aeroplane is changing attitude

Question 11

How can disorientation best be avoided or counteracted?

Answer 11

By maintaining VMC and always maintaining adequate separation from the clouds