It’s good to have a crystal ball

In aviation, such awareness is crucial in identifying fundamental risks posed by our flight, our privileges as pilot in command, our aircraft, the type of flight operation we conduct, and the three-dimensional environment in which we operate the flight. When we are aware of the circumstances that surround our trip, we can be proactive and use this information to decide how it may impact our situation. We can then adjust plans to ensure the flight’s safe outcome. Advancements in technology have come a long way toward helping us develop and maintain that mental picture of our surroundings, provided we understand the technologies’ limitations.

Nevertheless, if we are exposed to a high workload in the cockpit, it can impact our ability to cope with the resulting stress. Such task saturation can lead us to lose vigilance and forget key information we would otherwise recollect immediately. And combined with a perceived threat, it may heighten our anxiety and cause us to become focused on that single threat factor. This can result in tunnel vision and poor decision making that puts us and our passengers at risk. But there are a couple of simple things we can do to arm against losing situational awareness.

While still on the ground, complete tasks that will alleviate some of the workload after takeoff. For example, to help ease navigation after takeoff and when transitioning to cruise flight, load your flight plan and its waypoints into the GPS, then verify everything has been properly entered. Next, set the active and standby communication frequencies in the com radios to be ahead of the game before getting airborne, and again, verify accuracy.

In addition, if your aircraft has an autopilot, use it to reduce stress and fatigue. Whether it’s a short but task-saturating flight or a longer trip that might be exhausting, the autopilot can provide you with precious time. It frees you up to monitor your current situation, confirm that the flight is stable, look ahead at what action comes next, and mentally prepare you for taking those next steps.

Spatial disorientation

A critical and dangerous result of losing situational awareness is the potential for spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of control in flight. An accident that highlights this risk happened on October 11, 2021, in Santee, California. The pilot was accustomed to commuting in his twin-engine Cessna between his work in Arizona and home in California. Even though the pilot was familiar with the route, the accident flight’s outcome is an example of the serious consequences of losing situational awareness and allowing it to lead to spatial disorientation.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the accident’s probable cause was “Loss of control due to spatial disorientation.” But there’s a lot more to the accident than those seven words can relay. The AOPA Air Safety Institute (ASI) delved deep into the accident flight, using available information from the NTSB docket, witness statements, and other relevant material that provide indicators of what led up to the tragedy. ASI’s recently released video about this accident follows the pilot on the flight from Yuma, Arizona, to San Diego, California, and it looks into the sequence of events, including task saturation, that eventually led to a dramatic and saddening crash.

Please review ASI’s Accident Case Study: Deadly Disorientation which provides insights into how this accident could have been avoided. The video uses FAA ATC radio communication transcripts and video animation to recreate what happened and share critical lessons so we can recognize and avoid similar mistakes.

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airsafetyinstitute.org/ACS/DeadlyDisorientation