The number of transport-category airplane accidents involving spatial disorientation appears to have gradually increased in recent years even as the total number of accidents and incidents has declined, according to a recent study.1
The report, published in the February issue of Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, concluded that there are several possible explanations, including pilots’ more frequent experiences with somatogravic illusion — the sensation of being in a nose-up attitude, which is especially likely in conditions with poor visual references — during a go-around or missed approach, but that additional research is needed to explain the phenomenon.
The researchers based their conclusions on a review of accident information from five national accident organizations and two independent groups2 from 1980 through 2015. They identified events involving transport or commuter airplanes being operated on scheduled and nonscheduled passen…
