Aviation Visual Perception: Research, Misperception and Mishaps

Vision is the dominant sense used by pilots and visual misperception has been identified as the primary contributing factor in numerous aviation mishaps, resulting in several fatalities and major resource loss. For example, the US Navy reported that from 1997-2002 they had 22 mishaps attributed to pilot spatial disorientation resulting in 23 fatalities and a loss in resources of $475m (Webster, 2004). This book is the first dedicated solely to the role of visual perception in aviation. The authors use their diverse backgrounds to approach this important topic in three different ways: (a) from the pilot's perspective, (b) by using aviation accident analysis, and (c) drawing on human factors research. The pilot's perspective sections of the book put the reader "inside the pilot's head" by discussing expert pilots' knowledge of how different flight tasks are accomplished. The accident analyses take the reader through investigations of several crashes (both military and commercial) and demonstrate that visual misperception by pilots continues to be a common cause of aviation accidents. The human factors research sections consider relevant laboratory, flight simulator and field research on this topic in a manner that makes the material more accessible for the non-expert reader, as well as identifying several outstanding research questions. Finally, the book also explores visual illusions experienced by pilots. Visual Perception in Aviation is intended to be used for instruction in academia, as a resource for human factors researchers, and for instruction and training in the pilot community.