Graveyard Spirals/Spins Continued...
So first I will talk about graveyard spirals. These most often occur with new instrument pilots or student pilots that are flying at night or when they unintentionally fly into instrument meteorological conditions. (FAA) The pilot, when they enter these conditions, loses the ability to judge what their aircraft is doing due to the brain misinterpreting what the body is feeling and what the instruments are telling you. A graveyard spiral consists of both physiological and physical components. When you enter a graveyard spiral mechanical failure can happen but generally is not a factor, as it is the pilot’s sense of equilibrium which leads to the inevitable dive. Flying by “the seat of the pants,” and failing to recognize and/or respond to instrument readings is the most common source of what is referred to as controlled flight into terrain. (Naval Air Training Command)
This illusion usually occurs when the pilot enters a bank of about 30 degrees. (figure 1) Due to the lack of an outside reference the pilot soon feel that they are in straight and level flight. The confusion occurs with the sensation of level flight and the instruments that show a descent indicated on the altimeter and vertical speed indicator. In an attempt to correct the decent, the pilot will pull back on the yoke. The banking turn the plane is at an angle and will be flying a large circle. Pulling back on the control yoke has the effect of tightening that circle and causing the plane to lose altitude at an increasing rate. If the unusual attitude is not corrected you will die.
A graveyard spin (figure 1) is very similar but doesn’t require you to be in IMC, this illusion happens in spins. As the airplane spins the pilot initially can tell the direction of the spin, but as the fluid in your inner ear equalizes you perceive that the spin has stopped. The instruments still indicate a spin so the pilot corrects the unusual attitude by using the spin recovery procedure. Although once the wings are level you inner ear senses a spin to the left and the pilot that is ‘flying by the seat of their pants’ will re-enter the initial spin.
How does this affect you as a Pilot?
Well I believe that the most obvious way that it affects you is that you learn about it all through your training. Why is that? Well whether this has happened to you or you have yet to experienced it, it will happen eventually.
Hopefully you will have the knowledge to recognize the signs of the spiral or spin before it is too late. You need to recognize that you are human, and as a human your senses can and will get screwed up as a pilot. The inner ear, the organ that provides spatial orientation, was not evolved to be used as for flying. As long as you trust what your instruments are telling you over what your body is saying, no matter how convincing, you will be fine.
The last way that these illusions affect you as a pilot is that if no corrections are made when you are in a spiral/spin you will DIE.
How do you avoid Graveyard Spirals?
The best way to avoid the death trap that is known as a graveyard spiral there are several different things you can do. Especially when you enter instrument meteorological conditions, it is important that you use proper interpretation of your instruments. Like I said earlier no matter how convincing your bodies’ sensations might be it is important to always trust your instruments. They have told me all throughout my schooling that you have to trust your instruments if you want to avoid the illusions that are common at night and in IMC.
Speaking of training, which is the next thing you need in order to avoid graveyard spirals and other human factors. It is very important to stay and maintain instrument proficiency. You can do this in several different ways. You can go out to your local FBO and ask a CFI/CFII to fly with you so you can get used to the instruments again. (Vikash K Thakur) Most likely they are going to have you use foggles, or any other view limiting device, in order to simulate instrument conditions. These will allow you to practice and get really proficient at the instruments before you are required to use your instrument in actually conditions.
So in this particular situation the more you know about what leads to graveyard spirals/spins the better you will be able to avoid death. Knowledge is power!
JFK Jr. Plane Crash
This is a crash that I found on the NTSB website. This was actually a fairly significant crash because this killed JFK Jr. While they say that the cause was spatial disorientation from the radar data it is apparent that the plane did experience a graveyard spiral at least at one point and during the crash. This accident occurred Friday, July 16, 1999 in Vineyard Haven, MA. They were flying a Piper PA-32R-301. (Figure 2)
The Pilot was a noninstrument pilot, although it was not required for the flight because VFR conditions existed. The visibility at the time was about 4 to 10 miles along his intended route. And airports along the coast reported visibilities between 5 and 8 miles. Due to the dark night and haze surface references became obscured even though weather was above VFR minimums and that an inability to perceive the natural horizon or surface references is common during flights over water.
Here is the story as told by the NTSB: About 34 miles west of Martha's Vineyard Airport, while crossing a 30-mile stretch of water to its destination; the airplane began a descent that varied between 400 to 800 feet per minute. About 7 miles from the approaching shore, the airplane began a right turn. The airplane stopped its descent at 2,200 feet, then climbed back to 2,600 feet and entered a left turn. While in the left turn, the airplane began another descent that reached about 900 fpm. While still in the descent, the airplane entered a right turn. During this turn, the airplane's rate of descent and airspeed increased. The airplane's rate of descent eventually exceeded 4,700 fpm, and the airplane struck the water in a nose-down attitude. (NTSB)
This illusion usually occurs when the pilot enters a bank of about 30 degrees. (figure 1) Due to the lack of an outside reference the pilot soon feel that they are in straight and level flight. The confusion occurs with the sensation of level flight and the instruments that show a descent indicated on the altimeter and vertical speed indicator. In an attempt to correct the decent, the pilot will pull back on the yoke. The banking turn the plane is at an angle and will be flying a large circle. Pulling back on the control yoke has the effect of tightening that circle and causing the plane to lose altitude at an increasing rate. If the unusual attitude is not corrected you will die.
A graveyard spin (figure 1) is very similar but doesn’t require you to be in IMC, this illusion happens in spins. As the airplane spins the pilot initially can tell the direction of the spin, but as the fluid in your inner ear equalizes you perceive that the spin has stopped. The instruments still indicate a spin so the pilot corrects the unusual attitude by using the spin recovery procedure. Although once the wings are level you inner ear senses a spin to the left and the pilot that is ‘flying by the seat of their pants’ will re-enter the initial spin.
How does this affect you as a Pilot?
Well I believe that the most obvious way that it affects you is that you learn about it all through your training. Why is that? Well whether this has happened to you or you have yet to experienced it, it will happen eventually.
Hopefully you will have the knowledge to recognize the signs of the spiral or spin before it is too late. You need to recognize that you are human, and as a human your senses can and will get screwed up as a pilot. The inner ear, the organ that provides spatial orientation, was not evolved to be used as for flying. As long as you trust what your instruments are telling you over what your body is saying, no matter how convincing, you will be fine.
The last way that these illusions affect you as a pilot is that if no corrections are made when you are in a spiral/spin you will DIE.
How do you avoid Graveyard Spirals?
The best way to avoid the death trap that is known as a graveyard spiral there are several different things you can do. Especially when you enter instrument meteorological conditions, it is important that you use proper interpretation of your instruments. Like I said earlier no matter how convincing your bodies’ sensations might be it is important to always trust your instruments. They have told me all throughout my schooling that you have to trust your instruments if you want to avoid the illusions that are common at night and in IMC.
Speaking of training, which is the next thing you need in order to avoid graveyard spirals and other human factors. It is very important to stay and maintain instrument proficiency. You can do this in several different ways. You can go out to your local FBO and ask a CFI/CFII to fly with you so you can get used to the instruments again. (Vikash K Thakur) Most likely they are going to have you use foggles, or any other view limiting device, in order to simulate instrument conditions. These will allow you to practice and get really proficient at the instruments before you are required to use your instrument in actually conditions.
So in this particular situation the more you know about what leads to graveyard spirals/spins the better you will be able to avoid death. Knowledge is power!
JFK Jr. Plane Crash
This is a crash that I found on the NTSB website. This was actually a fairly significant crash because this killed JFK Jr. While they say that the cause was spatial disorientation from the radar data it is apparent that the plane did experience a graveyard spiral at least at one point and during the crash. This accident occurred Friday, July 16, 1999 in Vineyard Haven, MA. They were flying a Piper PA-32R-301. (Figure 2)
The Pilot was a noninstrument pilot, although it was not required for the flight because VFR conditions existed. The visibility at the time was about 4 to 10 miles along his intended route. And airports along the coast reported visibilities between 5 and 8 miles. Due to the dark night and haze surface references became obscured even though weather was above VFR minimums and that an inability to perceive the natural horizon or surface references is common during flights over water.
Here is the story as told by the NTSB: About 34 miles west of Martha's Vineyard Airport, while crossing a 30-mile stretch of water to its destination; the airplane began a descent that varied between 400 to 800 feet per minute. About 7 miles from the approaching shore, the airplane began a right turn. The airplane stopped its descent at 2,200 feet, then climbed back to 2,600 feet and entered a left turn. While in the left turn, the airplane began another descent that reached about 900 fpm. While still in the descent, the airplane entered a right turn. During this turn, the airplane's rate of descent and airspeed increased. The airplane's rate of descent eventually exceeded 4,700 fpm, and the airplane struck the water in a nose-down attitude. (NTSB)