PPL Human Performance PDF

**[HUMAN PERFORMANCE (PPL)]** **A [pilot] is [responsible] for maintaining an [awareness] of the [mental] and [physical] [standards] required for operating an aircraft.** **Physical fitness** -- helps you to cope better with stress, fatigue and the reduced availability of oxygen at higher altitude...

**[HUMAN PERFORMANCE (PPL)]** **A [pilot] is [responsible] for maintaining an [awareness] of the [mental] and [physical] [standards] required for operating an aircraft.** **Physical fitness** -- helps you to cope better with stress, fatigue and the reduced availability of oxygen at higher altitude **Mental fitness** -- vital to safe flying; can be degraded by: medication, drugs including alcohol and nicotine, excessive stress (physical and emotional), personal or family problems, lack of sleep or poor eating habits (illness), and fatigue **[Common medications considered incompatible with flying include:]** Antibiotics Tranquilizers, antidepressants, sedatives Stimulants Antihistamines Drugs to control high blood pressure Analgesic Anesthetics **[*Health factors* affecting pilot performance\ ]** \(1) **Fatigue** -- feeling tired after long periods of physical or mental strain \(2) **Anxiety** -- a state of uneasiness arising from fear \(3) **Stress** -- body's response to demands made upon it by everyday living (physical, physiological, and psychological) \(4) **Emotion** -- being emotionally upset has the same effect on a pilot as extreme stress or fatigue (ex. loss of job, financial trouble, etc.) \(5) **Alcohol** -- DON'T! (8 hours "from bottle to throttle") \(6) **Tobacco** **[*Environmental factors* which affect pilot performance]** \(1) **Hypoxia** -- a state of oxygen deficiency in the body sufficient to impair functions of the brain and other organs (avoid hypoxia by using supplemental oxygen above 10,000 feet MSL); symptoms: feeling of euphoria, giddiness, drowsiness, headache, deterioration of vision, high pulse rate, blue lips/fingernails, may end in unconsciousness and death \(2) **Hyperventilation** -- an involuntary and inappropriate increase in breathing rate, which flushes an excessive amount of carbon dioxide out of the blood (the remedy is to calm down, slow the breathing rate, and increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood by breathing in and out of a bag); symptoms: a feeling of suffocation, higher pulse rate, giddiness, sweating, coolness, nausea, blurred vision, numbness or tingling feeling in the lips, finger and toes, muscle spasms, drowsiness, and unconsciousness \(3) **Middle ear discomfort or pain** -- the changing pressures of flight can cause painful ear problems if the pilot or passenger is unable to equalize the pressure in the middle ear (do not fly when you have colds, sore throat or any upper respiratory problems) \(4) **Spatial disorientation** -- state of confusion resulting from misleading information being sent to the brain by various sensory organs (avoid spatial disorientation by looking outside or by looking at the flight instruments; do not rely on body signals) \(5) **Vertigo** -- feeling of rotation when in fact no rotation is actually occurring \(6) **Illusions in flight** -- accelerating can give the illusion of climbing; decelerating can give the illusion of descending; upward sloping runway creates a "too high" illusion, downward sloping runway creates a "too low" illusion; wide runway -- illusions of being too low on the approach to landing; narrow runway -- illusion of being "too high"; in hazy conditions, you may be closer to the runway than you appear to be \(6) **Motion sickness** -- caused by continuous stimulation of the inner ear which controls the sense of balance; symptoms: loss of appetite, saliva collecting in the mouth, perspiration, nausea, and possible disorientation \(7) **Carbon monoxide poisoning** -- carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas contained in exhaust fumes, that when breathed even in minute quantities over a period of time, can significantly reduce the ability of the blood to carry oxygen; consequently, effects of hypoxia occur \(8) **Decompression sickness after scuba diving** -- from high pressure area going to low pressure area; a pilot or passenger who intends to fly after scuba diving should allow the body sufficient time to rid itself of excess nitrogen absorbed during diving \(9) **Vision in flight** -- adapt your eyes to darkness before night flying by avoiding bright lights for at least 30 minutes before flight; cockpit lighting should be dimmed at night \***Scanning for other aircraft by day** -- use a series of short, regularly spaced eye movements to search each 10 degree sector of the sky \***Scanning for other aircraft by night** -- scan slowly using your peripheral vision; use navigation lights to avoid collision **Pilots who are not mentally fit cannot make good decisions before or during a flight.** **Aeronautical decision making** is the process by which pilots assess the risk of a particular flight and judge the consequences. Pilots who lack good decision making skills can fall into dangerous traps including: *peer pressure*, *mind set*, *get-there-itis*, *duck under syndrome*, *scud running*, *VFR into IFR*, *low fuel*, *poor preflight planning* and *flying outside the airplane's envelope*. **[Five decision-making subject areas:]** 1. **Pilot** -- Your state of health, level of fatigue, competency 2. **Aircraft** - Any question about its airworthiness 3. **Environment** -- Weather, traffic, runway length and condition, etc. 4. **Operation** -- The go/no-go decision 5. **Situation** -- Know what is going on around you **[Five types of hazardous mental attitudes for pilots:]** 1. **Anti-authority** ("don't tell me!") -- *follow the rules they are usually right* 2. **Impulsivity** ("do something, quickly!") -- *not so fast, think first* 3. **Invulnerability** ("it won't happen to me") -- *it could happen to me* 4. **Macho** ("I can do it") -- *taking chances is foolish* 5. **Resignation** ("what's the use?") -- *I'm not helpless, I can make a difference*