Aeromedical Factors

Following landing, blue aircraft has been instructed to “hold short”

Runway 4. Blue aircraft is expected to hold at this position even if the
aircraft has not cleared the landing runway and remains inside the
safety area for Runway 35. Follow ATC instructions.

Note: Because of the relative

Runway Safety Area for 35

short Taxiway D stub, the hold
markings are not SEQUENCED
in the “usual order” as one
would expect to see exiting
either runway.

ay
unw ety 4
R af for
D
S a
e
Ar
35

35
4

4
D
 Medical Certificate
• Must possess valid and
appropriate medical certificate
to exercise the privileges of
your pilot certificate
 Medical Certificate
• You are prohibited from
performing crewmember duties
while you have a known medical
condition that would make you
unable to meet the standards for
your medical certificate
 Personal Checklist
• I - Illness
• M - Medication
• S - Stress
• A - Alcohol
• F - Fatigue
• E - Emotion or Eating
 Hypoxia
• Name four types of hypoxia.
 Hypoxia
• Hypoxic Hypoxia
• Hypemic Hypoxia
• Stagnant Hypoxia
• Histotoxic Hypoxia
 Hypoxia
• Hypoxic Hypoxia - Inadequate
supply of oxygen - altitude
• Hypemic Hypoxia - Inability of
the blood to carry oxygen -
Smoking - CO
 Hypoxia
• Stagnant Hypoxia - Inadequate
circulation of oxygen - Heart
problems - shock
• Histotoxic Hypoxia - Inability
of the cells to effectively use
oxygen - alcohol - drugs
 Symptoms
• Headache, drowsiness,
dizziness and either a sense of
well-being or belligerence
• Periphery of the visual field
turns gray
 Symptoms
• Blue color in lips and
fingernails
• Unconsciousness
• Death
 Hyperventilation
• Abnormal increase in the
amount of air breathed in and
out flushes from the lungs and
blood much of the carbon
dioxide needed to maintain the
proper degree of blood acidity
 Hyperventilation
• Control breathing - breath into a
paper bag - talking, singing or
counting aloud
 Symptoms
• Dizziness, tingling of the fingers
and toes, hot and cold sensations,
drowsiness, nausea and suffocation
• Disorientation and painful muscle
spasms, followed by
unconsciousness
 Carbon Monoxide
• Colorless, odorless and tasteless
gas
• Affinity of the hemoglobin in the
blood is greater for carbon
monoxide than oxygen
• Effects are cumulative
 Carbon Monoxide
• Susceptibility increases with
altitude
• Aircraft heater work by air
flowing over the exhaust
manifold
 Symptoms
• Feeling of sluggishness, being
too warm and tightness across
the forehead
• Followed by headache,
throbbing or pressure in the
temples and ringing in the ears
 Symptoms
• Leads to severe headache,
weakness, dizziness and
dimming of vision
• Loss of muscle power,
vomiting, coma, death
 Decompression Sickness
• Nitrogen changes from a liquid
to a gas and forms bubbles in
the bloodstream
• Wait at least 12 hours after a
dive not requiring a controlled
ascent
 Decompression Sickness
• Wait at least 24 hours after a
dive requiring a controlled
ascent
 Motion Sickness
• Caused by continued
stimulation of the tiny portion
of the inner ear that control
your sense of balance
 Symptoms
• Desire for food is lost
• Saliva collects in your mouth and
you perspire freely
• Nausea and disorientation
• Headache and tendency to vomit
 Preventive Measure
• Open air vents
• Loosen clothing
• Supplemental oxygen, if
available
• Look outside the airplane
 Preventive Measure
• Avoid unnecessary head
movement
• Land as soon as possible
 Motion Sickness
• As a pilot do not take over the
counter medication, since they
can cause deterioration of
navigation skills and tasks
requiring keen judgment
 Sinus Block
• Air pressure not able to equalize
between the sinuses and the nasal
passage
• Caused by respiratory infection or
nasal allergies producing congestion
• Usually occurs during descent
 Symptoms
• Excruciating pain in frontal sinuses
above each eyebrow or in the
maxillary sinuses located in each
upper cheek which may make the
upper teeth ache
• Bloody mucus may discharge from
the nasal passages
 Ear Block
• Air pressure not able to
equalize between the ears and
the nasal passage by way of the
Eustachian tubes
• Caused by upper respiratory
infection
 Ear Block
• Swallowing, yawning, using
Valsalva maneuver
 Symptoms
• Severe ear pain and loss of
hearing
• Rupture of the ear drum
• Fluid accumulation in the middle
ear which can become infected
 Stress
• Life Stress Management
– Be knowledgeable about stress
– Take a realistic assessment of
yourself
– Take a systematic approach to
problem solving
 Stress
– Develop a life style that will buffer
you from the effects of stress
– Practice behavioral management
techniques
– Establish and maintain a strong
support network
 Stress
• Cockpit Stress Management
– Avoid situations that distract you
from flying the aircraft
– Reduce your workload
– In an emergency, remain calm
 Stress
– Maintain proficiency in your
aircraft
– Know and respect your personal
limitations
– Do not let little things bother you
until they build into big things
 Stress
• Cockpit Stress Management
– If flying is adding to your stress,
either stop flying or seek
professional help to manage your
stress within acceptable limits
 Illusions
• Can lead to spatial
disorientation
• Can lead to landing errors
• Often contribute to fatal aircraft
accidents
 Illusions
• Leans - Correcting a banked
attitude which has been entered
too slowly to stimulate the motion
sensing system in the inner ear
• Creates the illusion of banking in
the opposite direction
 Illusions
• Coriolis Illusion - An abrupt
head movement in a prolonged
constant-rate turn can create the
illusion of rotation or
movement in an entirely
different axis
 Illusions
• Graveyard spin - recovery from
a spin and create the illusion of
spinning in the opposite
direction. The disoriented pilot
returns the aircraft to its
original spin
 Illusions
• Graveyard spiral - Losing altitude in a
constant rate turn. creates the illusion of
being in a descent with the wings level
• The disoriented pilot will pull back on
the controls, tightening the spiral and
increasing loss of altitude
 Illusions
• Somatogravic illusion - Rapid
acceleration during takeoff can create
the illusion of being in a nose-up
attitude
• The disoriented pilot will push the
aircraft into a nose-low or dive
attitude
 Illusions
• Inversion illusion - an abrupt change
from climb to straight and level flight can
create the illusion of tumbling backwards
• The disoriented pilot will push the
aircraft into a nose-low attitude, possibly
intensifying this illusion
 Illusions
• Elevator illusion - An abrupt
upward vertical acceleration
caused by an updraft can create
the illusion of being in a climb
• The disoriented pilot will push the
aircraft into a nose-low attitude
 Illusions
• False Horizon - Sloping cloud
formations, an obscured horizon and
some patterns of ground lights can
create the illusion of not being
aligned correctly with the actual
horizon
• Leads to a dangerous attitude
 Illusions
• Autokinesis - In the dark, a static
light will appear to move about
when stared at for several seconds
• The disoriented pilot will lose
control of the aircraft in attempting
to align it with the light
 Illusions
• Size-distance illusion - When
one stares at a point of light, it
may appear to approach or
recede rapidly
 Illusions
• Reversible perspective - At
night, an aircraft may appear to
be going away from you when
it is actually approaching
 Illusions
• Flicker vertigo - A flickering light at a
constant frequency may cause dizziness,
nausea and in extreme cases convulsions
and unconsciousness
• Sun shining in the propeller on approach
• Change in power can help
 Illusions

Leading to Landing Errors

 Illusions
• Runway width illusions - A
wider-than-normal runway
creates the illusion that the
aircraft is lower than it really is
• Pilots level out too high and land
hard or overshoots the runway
 Illusions
• Runway and Terrain Slopes
illusion - An upsloping runway
creates the illusion that the
aircraft is higher than it really is
• The pilot will fly a low
approach
 Illusions
• Featureless Terrain illusion -
Absence of ground features when
landing over water, snow or dark
areas creates the illusion that the
aircraft is higher than it actually is
• The pilot will fly a low approach
 Illusions
• Atmospheric illusion - Rain on the
windscreen can create the illusion
of greater height. Haze creates the
illusion of being at a greater
distance. Penetration of fog can
create the illusion of pitching up.
 Illusions
• Ground lighting illusion - Lights
along a straight path, such as a road
can be mistaken for runway lights
• Bright runway lights and approach
light systems can create the illusion
of less distance to the runway.
 Vision
• Vision is the most important
sense for safe flight.
• Daytime scanning - series of
short, regularly spaced eye
movements not to exceed 10o
observed for at least one second
 Vision
• Night time - use offset viewing
and scan slowly
• Avoid bright lights for at least
30 minutes prior to flight
 Vision
• How is the eye constructed?
 Vision
• Cones
• Rods
• Fovea
• Off Center viewing
• Adaptation
• Oxygen