Daytime Black Holes

demonstrating how the black-hole approach effect works in daytime conditions."

Glenn Grubb

Friday, September 22, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Optical illusions, particularly the "black-hole illusion," are significant aviation hazards that distort pilots' perception of height and distance during landing approaches.
While traditionally understood as a night-flying phenomenon over unlit terrain that leads to dangerously low approaches, the article highlights its occurrence even during daytime, particularly when approaching upslope runways.
This illusion stems from the brain misinterpreting the runway's changing visual angle; a constant glideslope makes the runway appear to lengthen, which the brain incorrectly perceives as being too high, prompting an unsafe, drooping descent.
Pilots must understand these perceptual deceptions and how visual cues are interpreted to anticipate and compensate for illusions, ensuring stabilized and safe landings.

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Optical illusions are all around us. A classic example might be when looking through a camera and a slow-turning airplane propeller or the wheel spokes on a car appear to slow and then reverse direction. None of that happens, of course; part what we “see” is determined by how well our eyes and brain work and play together. The bad news is there are many other optical illusions, and they can actually be quite dangerous if encountered while flying. The good news is we can understand them, anticipate them, then compensate for them.