Black Hole Approach: A Systematic Review

The article deals with the factors contributing to the emergence of a visual illusion, the so-called black hole approach. Among all the visual illusions that can jeopardize the course of a flight in its particular phases, this illusion is quite specific. This illusion arises in cases of visual approach at night. The risks of this illusion, such as hitting the terrain, are known. However, the causes of this illusion and other influencing factors that may result in this illusion are not sufficiently investigated. Therefore, a systematic review was performed in order to summarize the existing knowledge on this issue. The results show that in the case of black hole approach, only basic research is carried out worldwide and there is a lack of studies. However, the studies carried out partially confirm the well-known hypotheses about the origin of this illusion.