[News Terms] Pilot's Enemy: 'Loss of Spatial Orientation'

'Spatial Disorientation' refers to a phenomenon where a pilot momentarily cannot determine the aircraft's attitude, speed, flight direction, altitude, or ascent/descent because there are no external references to confirm the flight status.

This occurs on moonless nights or in dense clouds when no external objects are visible, causing the pilot to momentarily misjudge direction or position and fly off course, leading to accidents.

On November 4, 2019, at the Pohang New Port Navy Pier in Gyeongbuk, the Navy is moving the fuselage of a firefighting helicopter that crashed near Dokdo and was salvaged, using a special vehicle from the Cheonghaejin ship.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to a government investigation, the cause of the fire department helicopter crash on October 31, 2019, at 11:25 PM, which resulted in seven deaths after taking off from the Dokdo helipad to transport an emergency patient, was due to the pilot's 'spatial disorientation.'

On the 7th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board, in cooperation with French accident investigation authorities, conducted a nearly four-year investigation including analysis of the aircraft's black box and disassembly inspection of the airframe and engine. The final report stated that after takeoff, the helicopter passed over Dokdo's steep slope and entered a very dark sea area from a bright area, causing the pilot to lose the ability to distinguish between the sky and sea, resulting in a crash into the sea 486 meters south of the helipad just 14 seconds after takeoff.

EC225 helicopter belonging to the 119 Rescue Headquarters, the same model as the fire helicopter that crashed off the coast of Dokdo.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The investigation board also pointed out causes such as ▲mistaking the descending aircraft attitude for an ascending one ▲visual illusions caused by various lights. To prevent recurrence of the accident, the board included nine safety recommendations in the final report, including ▲measures to alleviate crew fatigue ▲strengthening spatial disorientation training ▲regular night flight training ▲autopilot training.

Additionally, on March 13, 2015, around 8:25 PM, a Coast Guard helicopter dispatched from Mokpo to transport a child emergency patient from Gageodo in Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do, crashed into the sea due to the pilot's spatial disorientation while approaching the landing site in dense fog near Gageodo, resulting in the deaths of all four onboard.

Earlier, on February 23, 2011, around 8:20 PM, a Coast Guard helicopter that took off from a patrol vessel 100 km west of Jeju carrying a police officer suffering from abdominal pain crashed after the pilot mistook the lights of a squid fishing boat for starlight, killing all five onboard.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.