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Pilot Performance and Safety Factors

This document discusses human performance factors that can impact pilot performance, including physical fitness, mental fitness, fatigue, stress, anxiety, emotion, alcohol, tobacco, hypoxia, hyperventilation, ear discomfort, spatial disorientation, vertigo, motion sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning, and vision factors. It also covers aeronautical decision making and hazardous mental attitudes that can negatively impact pilots' decisions. Pilots must maintain awareness of how these internal and external factors can degrade their abilities and increase risks.

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25 views3 pages

Pilot Performance and Safety Factors

This document discusses human performance factors that can impact pilot performance, including physical fitness, mental fitness, fatigue, stress, anxiety, emotion, alcohol, tobacco, hypoxia, hyperventilation, ear discomfort, spatial disorientation, vertigo, motion sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning, and vision factors. It also covers aeronautical decision making and hazardous mental attitudes that can negatively impact pilots' decisions. Pilots must maintain awareness of how these internal and external factors can degrade their abilities and increase risks.

Uploaded by

Ryan
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

HUMAN PERFORMANCE (PPL)

A pilot is responsible for maintaining an awareness of the mental and physical


standards required for operating an aircraft.

Physical fitness – helps you to cope better with stress, fatigue and the reduced
availability of oxygen at higher altitude

Mental fitness – vital to safe flying; can be degraded by: medication, drugs
including alcohol and nicotine, excessive stress (physical and emotional), personal
or family problems, lack of sleep or poor eating habits (illness), and fatigue

Common medications considered incompatible with flying include:

 Antibiotics
 Tranquilizers, antidepressants, sedatives
 Stimulants
 Antihistamines
 Drugs to control high blood pressure
 Analgesic
 Anesthetics

Health factors affecting pilot performance

(1) Fatigue – feeling tired after long periods of physical or mental strain

(2) Anxiety – a state of uneasiness arising from fear

(3) Stress – body’s response to demands made upon it by everyday living


(physical, physiological, and psychological)

(4) Emotion – being emotionally upset has the same effect on a pilot as extreme
stress or fatigue (ex. loss of job, financial trouble, etc.)

(5) Alcohol – DON’T! (8 hours “from bottle to throttle”)

(6) Tobacco

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY


Environmental factors which affect pilot performance

(1) Hypoxia – a state of oxygen deficiency in the body sufficient to impair functions
of the brain and other organs (avoid hypoxia by using supplemental oxygen above
10,000 feet MSL); symptoms: feeling of euphoria, giddiness, drowsiness, headache,
deterioration of vision, high pulse rate, blue lips/fingernails, may end in
unconsciousness and death

(2) Hyperventilation – an involuntary and inappropriate increase in breathing


rate, which flushes an excessive amount of carbon dioxide out of the blood (the
remedy is to calm down, slow the breathing rate, and increase the amount of carbon
dioxide in the blood by breathing in and out of a bag); symptoms: a feeling of
suffocation, higher pulse rate, giddiness, sweating, coolness, nausea, blurred vision,
numbness or tingling feeling in the lips, finger and toes, muscle spasms, drowsiness,
and unconsciousness

(3) Middle ear discomfort or pain – the changing pressures of flight can cause
painful ear problems if the pilot or passenger is unable to equalize the pressure in
the middle ear (do not fly when you have colds, sore throat or any upper respiratory
problems)

(4) Spatial disorientation – state of confusion resulting from misleading


information being sent to the brain by various sensory organs (avoid spatial
disorientation by looking outside or by looking at the flight instruments; do not rely
on body signals)

(5) Vertigo – feeling of rotation when in fact no rotation is actually occurring

(6) Illusions in flight – accelerating can give the illusion of climbing; decelerating
can give the illusion of descending; upward sloping runway creates a “too high”
illusion, downward sloping runway creates a “too low” illusion; wide runway –
illusions of being too low on the approach to landing; narrow runway – illusion of
being “too high”; in hazy conditions, you may be closer to the runway than you
appear to be

(6) Motion sickness – caused by continuous stimulation of the inner ear which
controls the sense of balance; symptoms: loss of appetite, saliva collecting in the
mouth, perspiration, nausea, and possible disorientation

(7) Carbon monoxide poisoning – carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, and


tasteless gas contained in exhaust fumes, that when breathed even in minute
quantities over a period of time, can significantly reduce the ability of the blood to
carry oxygen; consequently, effects of hypoxia occur

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY


(8) Decompression sickness after scuba diving – from high pressure area going
to low pressure area; a pilot or passenger who intends to fly after scuba diving
should allow the body sufficient time to rid itself of excess nitrogen absorbed during
diving

(9) Vision in flight – adapt your eyes to darkness before night flying by avoiding
bright lights for at least 30 minutes before flight; cockpit lighting should be dimmed
at night

*Scanning for other aircraft by day – use a series of short, regularly spaced eye
movements to search each 10 degree sector of the sky

*Scanning for other aircraft by night – scan slowly using your peripheral vision;
use navigation lights to avoid collision

Pilots who are not mentally fit cannot make good decisions before or during a
flight.

Aeronautical decision making is the process by which pilots assess the risk of a
particular flight and judge the consequences. Pilots who lack good decision making
skills can fall into dangerous traps including: peer pressure, mind set, get-there-itis,
duck under syndrome, scud running, VFR into IFR, low fuel, poor preflight planning
and flying outside the airplane’s envelope.

Five decision-making subject areas:

1. Pilot – Your state of health, level of fatigue, competency


2. Aircraft - Any question about its airworthiness
3. Environment – Weather, traffic, runway length and condition, etc.
4. Operation – The go/no-go decision
5. Situation – Know what is going on around you

Five types of hazardous mental attitudes for pilots:

1. Anti-authority (“don’t tell me!”) – follow the rules they are usually right

2. Impulsivity (“do something, quickly!”) – not so fast, think first

3. Invulnerability (“it won’t happen to me”) – it could happen to me

4. Macho (“I can do it”) – taking chances is foolish

5. Resignation (“what’s the use?”) – I’m not helpless, I can make a difference

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

Common questions

Powered by AI

Hazardous attitudes such as anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability, macho, and resignation can negatively influence a pilot’s decision-making. These attitudes might lead to disregarding rules, hasty or risky decisions, overconfidence, or a defeatist mindset. Recognizing and countering these attitudes with positive thought processes can aid in making safer, more rational decisions. For example, challenging invulnerability with "it could happen to me" promotes cautious behavior .

Aeronautical decision-making (ADM) involves assessing the risks of a flight and understanding potential consequences. Effective ADM helps pilots avoid hazardous traps like peer pressure and scud running by making informed decisions based on health, aircraft condition, environmental factors, operational readiness, and situational awareness. By enhancing cognitive skills and situational assessment abilities, ADM significantly reduces the risk of accidents .

Motion sickness in aviation is caused by continuous stimulation of the inner ear, which affects balance. Symptoms include loss of appetite, saliva build-up in the mouth, perspiration, nausea, and potential disorientation. These symptoms result from conflicts between visual perceptions and inner ear balance signals during flight movements .

Environmental factors such as hypoxia, hyperventilation, and spatial disorientation significantly impact pilot performance. Hypoxia can impair brain function and lead to unconsciousness. Hyperventilation can cause symptoms like dizziness and nausea. Spatial disorientation can lead to incorrect flight control inputs, potentially resulting in accidents. These factors underscore the importance of proper training and awareness for maintaining flight safety .

Decompression sickness occurs when nitrogen released from body tissues forms bubbles in the blood, which can happen if a pilot or passenger flies soon after scuba diving without adequate surface interval time. This condition can impair cognitive functions and physical performance, jeopardizing flight safety by increasing the risk of hypoxia and other physiological complications during a flight .

Stress and emotional disturbances trigger physiological and psychological responses that degrade mental focus and decision-making abilities in pilots. Stress can escalate to anxiety and fatigue, while emotional upsets equivalent to extreme stress can distract pilots, compromising their ability to respond adequately to in-flight scenarios, thereby increasing the risk of operational errors .

Physical fitness helps pilots cope better with stress, fatigue, and reduced oxygen availability at higher altitudes. Mental fitness is vital for safe flying and can be degraded by factors such as medication, drugs, excessive stress, and lack of sleep. These can impair decision-making and response times, making mental fitness crucial for aeronautical decision-making .

For night flying, pilots need to adapt their eyes to darkness by avoiding bright lights for 30 minutes before flight. This adaptation helps in maintaining night vision. Scanning by day involves a series of short, spaced eye movements to cover 10-degree sectors, while at night, it requires slow scanning using peripheral vision and utilizing aircraft navigation lights to ensure safety and collision avoidance .

To prevent spatial disorientation, pilots should rely on flight instruments and maintain visual references outside the cockpit. Avoiding reliance on bodily signals is crucial. For illusions, understanding how runway slopes and widths affect perception helps in maintaining correct approach angles. Proper training and reliance on instruments are essential measures for pilots to overcome these challenges .

Fatigue impairs cognitive functions, leading to poor concentration, delayed reaction times, and impaired judgment, which adversely affects aeronautical decision-making. This increases the likelihood of errors during flight operations, such as misreading instruments or neglecting pre-flight procedures, thereby significantly compromising overall flight safety .

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