Stress/Anxiety Driven Accidents

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March 3,2018

Stress/Anxiety Driven Accidents

For clarity, all references to tunnel vision in this article relate to an
actual visual impairment, where the individual can only properly focus on
objects in a narrow “tunnel-like" field. Sometimes referred to as
"peripheral vision loss" or “reduced visual perception�. Which is
totally different than the mental tunnel vision often inferred to as a
contributing cause in accidents, which can be defined as one’s tendency
to focus on a single goal or point of view.

On a BFR flight in the spring of 2013, I sat in the back seat of a Grob 103
as one of our most respected high time xc pilots silently dealt with what
should have been a simple (simulated) spoilers failed full open landing.
Just prior to turning downwind when the pilot checked his spoilers, I
alerted him to the fact that I was holding the spoilers open to simulate a
mechanical failure. He proceeded to turn downwind at the normal location,
altitude and airspeed, then ask “if he still needed to use some slip
during the landing as previously requested�. I replied “no, you’re
now dealing with a simulated emergency, just make a safe landing on the
airport. (For those unfamiliar with a Grob 103, with full spoilers at 60
kts the rate of descent is close to 1200 feet per minute). Not
surprisingly after a few moments on downwind the pilot became aware of our
rapid altitude loss and without saying anything he immediately turned base.


At this point, I assumed he had given up on the glider runway and was now
planning to land on the closer parallel main runway. Apparently, he could
not see that our L/D was not going to get us to the runway, let alone have
the remaining altitude necessary to then turn finale and land. I refrained
from commenting fully expecting that at any moment he would announce that
he needs to close the spoilers to make a safe landing, but silently he
pressed on seemingly undaunted by the decaying situation. Finally at a
point 200 feet North of the runway half way thru a rapidly descending left
turn to final and with the left tip less than a half wingspan from the
ground. I loudly barked “my glider� as I slammed the spoilers closed,
arrested the descent and leveled the wings to maneuver and land on the
runway then to roll up and stop at the mid field taxiway. I was
dumbfounded and clueless as to how such a qualified pilot could have been
completely oblivious to the fact that he was but a few heartbeats away from
destroying the glider and likely crippling or killing us both. Our post
landing debrief was eye opening to say the least.

question: “when I took the glider how high do you think our left tip was
above the ground�

reply: “I’m not sure but I thought we were ok and maybe fifty feet
above the ground�

question: “at the moment I took the glider, where were you looking�

reply: he raised his right hand putting his thumb and index finger
together to make circle to look thru and stated “I was looking at where I
wanted to go on the runway and it was like I was looking thru a tube�

question: “did you feel like you were stressed during that landing�

reply: “I definitely had a lot of anxiety�

His description of seemingly looking thru a tube, sounded remarkably
similar to what I had experienced back in 1988 on one of my first glider
rides. A local pilot wanted to fly the Grob 103 from the back seat, so I
went along as front seat ballast. Briefly into his second consecutive
loop, I was surprised when my peripheral vision collapsed to the point that
all I could see was the instrument panel. Having read about g-induced
tunnel vision, greying out, and eventual blacking out, I tried pushing the
blood back up to my eyes by tightening the muscles in my legs and abdomen.
Magically it worked, and my vision immediately opened back up to normal.


In 2013 when this pilot described the visual limitation of seemingly
looking thru a tube. I began a research project into learning about what I
believed must be a connection between tunnel vision and accidents. While
there are there are numerous medical, biological or environmental
conditions that can cause tunnel vision. Research shows that the anxiety,
stress and fear, pilots feel when they perceive they are facing a
life-threatening event, triggers the hypothalamus to activate two systems:
the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal-cortical system. The first
phase of this is what is known as the fight or flight response
(interestingly in some individuals it’s actually an or freeze response).
The stress hormones adrenalin and noradrenalin from the adrenal medulla
along with approximately 30 hormones from the adrenal cortex enter the
blood stream. The heart rate and blood pressure rise, preparing the body
to deal with the threat. With a heart rate elevated to 115-145 BPM,
complex motor skills, visual reaction times and cognitive reaction times
are at their peak. However, between 145-175 mental and physical
performance begins to suffer dramatically. Tunnel vision, loss of
peripheral vision, loss of depth perception, auditory exclusion, the
slowing down or speeding up of time as well a decay in complex motor skills
are common. At heart rates above 175 BPM even a well-trained combatant
experiences a catastrophic break down of mental and physical performance
and most combatants experience bladder and bowl voiding.

I realize that lacking any name recognition in the soaring community this
article may well fall on deaf ears. I believe the best I can hope for is
that some small percentage of pilots and instructors, will be intrigued
enough to do their own research on this subject. If they see the value in
it, they will start a grass roots movement to have it pushed thru and
addressed at a national level.

For those pilots who believe they are too good to be susceptible to this
phenomenon. Best wishes

For those pilots who believe they quite susceptible to this issue. Seek
out an exceptional instructor who can challenge your skills and expand your
comfort level with diverse training

I believe that shedding light on what should be a serious safety concern
for all pilots, was an important first step.

Learn to recognize your signs of stress/anxiety, practice tactical
breathing as an aid in calming down.

Take corrective action immediately when available to mitigate the
stressor.

During landings learn to consciously and regularly look left and right
during the approach to help prevent or brake tunnel vision. Verbalizing
what you see and your intentions (even when solo) helps prevent tunnel
vision.

Invest in a wearable heart rate monitor and use it regularly to gauge your
own stress levels, pay special attention to its recording following
emergency training or off field landings. Lend it to other fellow pilots.


This age of technology provides us with a slew of wearable heart rate
monitors, some relatively cheap and some rather exotic and expensive.
There are watches available that constantly display current heart rate,
record your daily heart rate information, have settable alarms and even
blue tooth to smart phones that display current heart rate information.
The FitBit AltaHR is but one of numerous wearable wrist band heart rate
monitors that send continuous current heart rate to an Iphone. Most
instructors would value being able to have some real insight into their
students stress levels during flight training, particularly during
emergency maneuvers. Viewing pertinent data post flight could be an
invaluable tool for the student and instructor.

I give John Cochran credit for being willing to voice his opinions
regarding contest safety issues. Maybe he can convince some contest pilots
to wear heart rate monitors, so there can be some hard data to share
regarding pilot stress levels during low saves.

Having been involved as a soaring FBO, instructor and examiner for over a
quarter century. I always took great pride in the fact that I provided
students a level of training that assured their safety, as opposed to just
meeting the FAA’s published minimums. I slept well at night, knowing I
should never have a student come thru the door in a wheel chair and ask
“why didn’t you teach me about that�. This article is my final
installment in that process.

Get high, go far, go fast and come home safe.

Marty Eiler