Survey of Spatial Disorientation and Sensory Illusion among Air Force Pilots

Flight illusions and spatial disorientation are critical for pilots to understand, train for, and appropriately respond when in flight. Proper training would facilitate a common understanding to prevent the loss of life. The paper intentions are to develop a web-based questionnaire survey, coordinate responses, and make recommendations for future training. The survey focused on air forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union (EU) countries, which do not necessarily have the same benchmark in terms of practical knowledge and equipment, along with a properly set program for training these skills, despite the established standards. The results of the survey provide a graphical illustration together with comments and discussion for evaluation and interpretation. The questionnaire survey responses and discussions with pilots provide a preliminary set of recommendations for the training of both current and future pilots in terms of theoretical knowledge and practical skills flight illusions and spatial disorientation (FI/SD). The results of the survey highlight the need for better cognizance of flight illusions and SD, more frequent instructions available to flying personnel, and specific situations for FI/SD awareness.