Abstract: In absract, it has been cited that ” Purpose of this study was to determine the effect of
Social pressure on General Aviation (GA) pilots’ weather decision making. Data have shown that GA Accidents
associated with Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight into Instrucment Metrological Conditions (IM) are more like to
result in fatalities than other types of GA accidents. This problem is compounded by the addition of passengers, who have been found to be present onboard during VFR into IMC accidents more frequently than in other type of GA Accidents”
This Report is divided into multiple section,
Chapter 1-Introduction
Chapter-2- Weather
Chapter-3 – Individual Factors
Chapter 4- Multi Person/Interaction Factors
Chapter 5- Methods
Chapter 6- Results
Chapter 7- Discussuon
Chapter 8 Conclusion
Chapter 1- Introduction
#VFR only pilots may enter IMC without the permission, rating, and/or experience to do so for a variety of reasons. This phenomenon is known as VFR into IMC. VFR into IMC is one of the leading causes for concern in GA, as it represents only 3.5% of GA accidents but is associated with nearly 20% of all GA fatalities. Fatal VFR into IMC
accidents have an 80% fatality rate, in contrast to the 19% fatality rate associated with other types of GA accidents (Figure 3; Detwiler, Holcomb, Hackworth, & Shappell, 2008)
#A survey of approximately 1,300 New Zealand pilots found that 27.2% the non-instrument rated pilots had entered IMC on at least one occasion. Similar results were found for pilots in the United States, where approximately
25% of pilots had entered IMC on at least one occasion (Hunter, 2001)
#In order to investigate the true cause(s) of VFR into IMC accidents, Goh & Wiegmann (2001b) performed a simulator study to determine if expertise or motivation were leading to this behavior. Their findings suggest that there are two categories of pilots involved in VFR into IMC accidents, those who enter weather inadvertently as a result of misdiagnosing the situation, and those who enter deliberately as a result of misplaced
motivation. The first group of pilots who misdiagnose the situation do not accurately recognize the deteriorating weather conditions or the associated risk. This is generally thought to be due to a lack of experience, more specifically, experience relating to the identification of weather cues. The second group of pilots are those who intentionally continue into adverse weather conditions due to motivational factors. These pilots can be
influenced to enter IMC due to one of several factors, internal pressure to get home, or “gethome-itis,” and external pressure created by the presence and/or influence of passengers.
# Interestingly, research has found that passengers are more frequently present in accidents involving VFR into IMC accidents than during other types of GA accidents (Detwiler et al, 2008; Goh & Wiegmann, 2001a).
[DISPLAY_ULTIMATE_SOCIAL_ICONS]