Spatial Disorientation Archives - Stuck Mic AvCast - An Aviation Podcast About Learning to Fly, Living to Fly, & Loving to Fly

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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

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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:
https://www.aopa.org/advocacy/pilots/medical/fit-to-fly-pilots

Cruise Flight (Spatial Disorientation):

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