Explained: How visual illusions and bad weather contribute to a plane crash?
Plane crash mishaps can happen with any pilot, but what could be the possible reasons behind them? Is it the emergency landing? Or weather conditions? Reports say probable visual illusions, faulty windshield wipers can too, lead to a plane crash.
An ill-fated Air India Express plane crashed at the Kozhikode airport last year due to low visibility and sub-optimal performance of windshield wipers. As per reports, rain made the vision worse for the pilot which led to the disastrous plane crash.
Besides, a steep authority gradient prevented the pilot monitoring to make assertive call-outs and take actions as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which became a major contributory factor for the accident.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) report delved into the accident on August 7, 2021, when the Boeing 737-800 aircraft overshot the tabletop runway and fell to a depth of about 110 feet below the runway elevation, and broke into three pieces.
As per the report, two pilots, 19 passengers, and three infants lost their lives as the plane coming from Dubai with a total of 190 people on board, crashed. Non-adherence of the pilot to the SOP as well as systemic failures have been cited in the report as the probable causes for the crash at the Kozhikode airport in Kerala.
"Due to degraded visual cues of orientation caused by low visibility and sub-optimal performance of the PIC's (Pilot In Command) windshield wiper in rain, the PIC probably experienced visual illusions causing errors in distance and depth perception," the report said.
According to AAIB, the events of the AXB 1344 crash replicated the Mangalore crash of 2010. "Ten years later, on 7 August 2020, it was once again a similar tabletop aerodrome, the same airline, the same type of aircraft that landed off an 'Un-stabilised Approach' and touched down past half the runway and resulted in another major disaster".
The report noted that in the Kozhikode accident, the windshield wiper on the captain's side stopped working after operating for about 27 seconds during the first approach to land and in the second approach it worked, albeit at a speed slower than the one selected.
An ill-fated Air India Express plane crashed at the Kozhikode airport last year due to low visibility and sub-optimal performance of windshield wipers.
zeenews.india.com