Many aviation accidents caused by glide path overestimation (GPO) have occurred when a low glide path was induced by a black hole illusion (BHI) in featureless terrain during night approaches. This paper seeks to improve understanding of visual perception in aviation to mitigate errors in landing approaches. In the study, 20 pilots flew simulated approaches under various visual cues of random terrain objects and approach lighting system (ALS) configurations. Performance was assessed relative to the desired 3-_ glide path in terms of precision, bias, and stability. Findings showed that with the high-ratio (long, narrow) runway, the overall performance between 8.3 and 0.9 km from the runway depicted a concave approach shape found in BHI mishaps. The addition of random terrain objects failed to improve glide path performance, and an ALS commonly used at airports induced GPO and the resulting low glide path. The worst performance resulted from a combination ALS consisting of both side and approach lights. Approach lights lateral of the runway may counter the bias of the BHI. Novice pilots flew more stable approaches than did experienced pilots, indicating more proactive, cue-seeking behavior among experienced pilots as compared with novice pilots.
Samenvatting