A survey on Spatial Disorientation in the Eurofighter Typhoon: 1. The Italian Air Force experience

Introduction. Spatial disorientation (SD) is one of the major concerns in operational aviation medicine, due to its involvement in many aircraft incidents and mishaps. In 2002, the ItAF Aerospace Medicine Department in Pratica di Mare AFB developed a Spatial Disorientation  countermeasures and avoidance strategies course, in order to increase awareness and recovery effectiveness in TARF and RW aircrew. Methods. A questionnaire was administered to ItAF Eurofighter Typhoon pilots within Operational Wings and Flight Test Squadron. The survey was focused on type 2 (recognized) SD phenomena occurrence and in-flight use of DRF (Disorientation Recovery Function). Results. 38 questionnaires were filled by operational and experimental pilots. All individuals recognized SD situations were rapidly, and every pilot received in the past a ground-based or an in-flight training specifically dedicated to SD. The activation of the DRF for recovering from unusual attitudes during an operational flight mission occurred only 2 times. Conclusions. In this survey, type 2 SD was experienced by 53% of subjects. Only two of them activated the DRF in unusual attitude conditions. All pilots previously underwent a dedicated ground-based training on SD and 44% of them received also some in-flight demonstrations. In our opinion, SD avoidance training is an outstanding strategy for an early detection of different forms of in-flight SD illusions, leading to a prompt recovery to a fully controlled flight.