Safety Spotlight: Target in Sight

First is a recognition of the valuable situational awareness ADS-B provides. OK, this is not a subtle pitch for early ADS-B adoption on behalf of the FAA, and I am not under some kind of industry pressure. This is a safety guy who has flown with ADS-B a few times and been enlightened.

As we incorporate a new tool (ADS-B traffic display) into our cockpits, we’ll have to work on using it effectively so that ADS-B enhances, not replaces, our visual scanning skills. The risk of getting complacent, misusing, and becoming too dependent upon technology is not limited to general aviation pilots.

During my time in the U.S. Air Force, visual scanning for potential “bandits” was an important skill in the F–15 and one that was difficult to maintain as the radar became even more advanced. It was easy to get sucked into the cockpit, head down, eyes fixated on the radar picture. I remember a “friend” (ahem), on a Red Flag mission, head down, working the radar, trying to find a threat, only to hear the airborne warning and control system controller exclaim, “Check the contrails!” My “friend” looked up to see the bandit prominently silhouetted in the contrails, visible to all for dozens of miles.

Some challenges associated with the VFR “see and avoid” environment can be overcome by developing skills and keeping them sharp. Like any of our flying skills, visual scanning is developed with practice and it atrophies if not used.Some challenges associated with the VFR “see and avoid” environment can be overcome by developing skills and keeping them sharp. Like any of our flying skills, visual scanning is developed with practice and it atrophies if not used.

In the F–15, on our way out to the range, we would pair our radar elevation and azimuth detection with canopy placement. A target identified on radar as 20 degrees right and 10 degrees low would be underneath the compass and a fist width above the glareshield. Flying with my AOPA colleagues in the 182 and not picking up the traffic until relatively late, I realized that I need to begin the same type of pairing in my GA flying. If an ADS-B target appears 20 degrees right and 500 feet high, where will that appear in my windscreen and what are my references?

There are some biological factors as well. When we transition our focus from the instrument panel to outside the airplane, our eyes are focused at a very short distance, but we want to see traffic at a far distance. Therefore, every time we transition outside, we must focus on a distant object to orient our eyes for distance search, then begin our scan.

Finally, the human eye is optimized to see movement and contrast. The problem is that an airplane on a collision course will show no movement in your windscreen. So, the eye is biased against the very traffic that’s most important to detect. To compensate, visual search is best done in a scan, focusing on a relatively small area for approximately three seconds, and then shifting the area of the scan slightly, moving through the windscreen methodically.

When flying cross-country in the F–15, we had a running competition for spotting VFR traffic, and at the end of the trip, whoever saw the most traffic won a few drinks.

Spotting traffic should be enabled by ADS-B, but we’ll need to keep our visual-detection skills sharp. So go fly, sharpen your skills at spotting traffic, and next time you’re on a cross-country, win a few drinks from your friends.

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Web: www.airsafetyinstitute.org/spotlight/collisionavoidance