Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) is a major safety hazard within general aviation. In this study, pilots decisions to continue or divert from a VFR flight into IMC during a dynamic simulation of a cross-country flight were examined. Pilots encountered IFR conditions either early or later into the flight and the amount of time and distance pilots flew into the adverse weather prior to diverting was recorded. Results revealed that pilots who encountered the deteriorating weather earlier in the flight flew longer into the weather prior to diverting, and had more optimistic estimates of weather conditions, than pilots who encountered the deteriorating weather later in the flight. Both the time and distance traveled into the weather prior to diverting were negatively correlated with pilots previous flight experience. These findings suggest that VFR flight into IMC may be due, at least in part, to poor situation assessment and experience rather than to motivational judgment that induces risk-taking behavior as more time and effort is invested in a flight. Interventions should therefore focus on improving weather evaluation skills in addition to addressing risk-taking attitudes.


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    Title :

    Pilots' Decisions to Continue Visual Flight Rules (VFR) Flight into Adverse Weather: Effects of Distance Traveled and Flight Experience


    Contributors:
    D. A. Wiegmann (author) / J. Goh (author) / D. O'Hare (author)

    Publication date :

    2001


    Size :

    13 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English