Physical or cognitive misconceptions, particularly in instrument flight conditions, can lead tornaircrew misperceiving the orientation of their aircraft. This condition is known as ‘spatialrndisorientation’ (SD) and it remains a major source of attrition. Studies have shown that between 80-rn100% of aircrew (both fixed wing and helicopter) suffer SD to some degree and that SD has causedrnmany accidents (it has been reported to be a major factor in 15-32% of military helicopterrnaccidents 1,2,3,4 ). Many SD accidents might occur regardless of the instrument display in use, sincernthe aircrew members are simply not looking at the instruments. However, there are a number ofrnaccidents that might be amenable to improved instrument displays. In an attempt to improvernmaintenance and re-attainment of correct orientation with a reduced cognitive workload, a novelrninstrument display was developed. This paper describes an assessment of the display in the UH-60rnhelicopter flight simulator.rnSixteen male helicopter aviators, of varying experience, flew a simulated instrument flight profilernand made recoveries from unusual attitudes using both standard flight instruments and the novelrndisplay. The two display formats were tested both with and without a secondary task. The resultsrnshowed that both flying accuracy and the ability to recover from unusual attitudes werernsignificantly improved when using the novel display compared to the standard instrument panel.rnAnalysis of the secondary task scores showed that cognitive workload was also comparativelyrnreduced when using the novel display.
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