It is critically important that pilots of small aircraft fully understand weather conditions in order to plan a safe flight. Many such pilots fly by visual reference to the ground and cannot enter clouds. Online weather data is available to assist pilots with planning flights in order to avoid poor conditions. However, this data is provided in an extremely terse and cryptic format. The reports ...

INTRODUCTION The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Aerospace Medicine sets medical standards needed to protect the public and pilots from death or injury due to incapacitation of the pilot. As a part of this process, toxicology testing is performed by the FAA on almost every pilot who is fatally injured in an aviation accident to determine the medical condition of the pilot, medic...

The role of occupational exposure to noise as a hypertension risk factor has not been established sufficiently. The aim of the study is to evaluate whether chronic exposure to different levels of noise in two groups of pilots, operating with two types of aircraft, could be a risk for hypertension, what relevance the parameters (intensity, duration and type) of exposure can have and, lastly, whe...

Research has shown that spatial disorientation often occurs when pilots transition between real-world visual cues and head-down attitude instruments. Recent studies investigating the opto-kinetic cervical reflex (OKCR) indicate that when pilots transition between these two types of visual cues, they are also transitioning between frames of reference. Limited research has been conducted investig...

PURPOSE To evaluate the physiological challenges of competitive cross-country hang gliding. METHODS Seventeen experienced male pilots (age=41+/-9 y; mean+/-SD) were fitted with a monitor that recorded heart rate and altitude at 0.5 Hz throughout a competitive flight. Fluid losses were evaluated by comparing pilot pre- and postflight mass. RESULTS The pilots' displacement was 88.4+/-43.7 km ...

OBJECTIVE To examine operator strategies for diagnosing and recovering from errors and disturbances as well as the impact of automation design and time pressure on these processes. BACKGROUND Considerable efforts have been directed at error prevention through training and design. However, because errors cannot be eliminated completely, their detection, diagnosis, and recovery must also be sup...

A sample of licensed pilots completed the Aeronautical Risk Judgment Questionnaire (ARJQ) which was developed to obtain data on pilots' perceptions of their abilities, willingness to take risks, hazard awareness, and judgments of the risks of general aviation. A subset of these subjects was tested on a computerised test of flight decision-making involving a proposed VFR flight in marginal weath...

INTRODUCTION The psychological workload of flying has been shown to increase heart rate (HR) during flight simulator operation. The association between HR changes and flight performance remains unclear. METHODS There were 15 pilots who performed a combat flight mission in a Weapons Tactics Trainer simulator of an F-18 Hornet. An electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded, and individual incremental...

The role of the air traffic controller in future air traffic management systems is that of a passive monitor, who intervenes in potential conflict situations only if pilots, aided by onboard traffic displays, fail to implement safe and timely conflict resolutions. Yet, such scenarios are entirely plausible and even likely, particularly in busy airspaces. However, it is also likely that an a con...