This piece originally ran in Robert’s Stick and Rudder column in the March 2022 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.

Last summer, the sports-watching world was shaken when Simone Biles made the decision to sit out some Olympic competitions where she was expected to earn gold medals. It wasn’t injury or physical inability, but rather a lack of mental readiness that prompted her to withdraw from the events. But let’s face it: Gymnastics — especially at her level — is serious business. Just watch as any Olympic or world-class gymnast runs through their low-level flight routine of cartwheeling, flipping, twisting, somersaulting, and then landing rock steady on their feet, and it all begins to make sense. In such low-altitude acrobatics, any misjudgment, distraction, or miscalculation can lead to a serious accident or injury.

The Laws of Motion

As it turns out, performing low-level acrobatics (or aerobatics, in the case of a pilot) takes a high degree of training, expertise, mental fitness, and confidence. In fact, it was likely a number of factors that caused Biles to withdraw. Biles and other gymnasts talk about getting “lost in the air” — losing reference to where you are, and thus your ability to complete the maneuver safely. They call it “the twisties.” It’s a disabling scenario that can result in extreme stress and a loss of confidence.

Those of us who fly airplanes can relate to the situation. One of the skills we learn and (hopefully) practice on a regular basis is unusual attitude recovery. This is where we suddenly become “lost in the air” and must quickly decipher the instruments and figure out what to do to put the aircraft back in level flight. We know to first check the airspeed. If it is low and going lower, we add power, lower the pitch angle, and roll level — all in one smooth motion. If airspeed is high or increasing, we reduce power, level the wings, and then recover from the resulting dive. We appreciate the importance of doing all this quickly and efficiently to avoid an untimely disaster.

When we’re performing such training, we know that something is up and that we’ll shortly be called upon to respond. We’re ready for it. But when such a situation sneaks up on us in flight, we likely don’t see it coming at all. Maybe the visibility is poor and we slowly begin to lose our visual references. Then all it takes is a moment’s distraction or another unexpected event to lose track of what is happening and put ourselves in a dangerous situation.

Loading the Trap

Last summer, I had the opportunity to revisit just such a scenario. Even when conditions are within the legal limits of VFR, we can find ourselves with little to work with in terms of visual references. While flying over the water in VFR conditions, I realized that I really couldn’t see a thing except when I was looking straight down to see the water. Spotting other traffic visually had reached the point of diminishing returns. That fact was substantiated by the aircraft showing up on my ADS-B display that I couldn’t find by looking out the windscreen. It dawned on me that should an aircraft suddenly materialize out of the gray, it would be a challenge to make evasive maneuvers. Any maneuvering would require flight by reference to instruments. Such thoughts can be disconcerting, but perhaps it’s a good thing to have them present in our consciousness. It could be what prevents us from getting into a situation that’s over our heads.

Another way the lost in the air scenario might materialize is as a victim of a visual illusion that causes us to unintentionally put the aircraft in a compromised attitude. Many of us have encountered this scenario firsthand. Reduced visibility is one ticket to such a ride, but it can happen just as easily on a perfectly clear night. A star-studded sky above the horizon that blends into a sea of lights from fishing boats below the horizon is one such example. Without a perceptible visual horizon, we can easily become lost. When such an incident occurs, the key to extricating ourselves from the scenario is through the use of the aircraft’s instruments.

The sad truth is that it can take longer to recognize a developing situation than we would hope. In the interim, we’re confused, our head may be spinning, and the situation progresses from bad to worse. If we haven’t practiced unusual attitude recoveries recently, it might take even longer to recognize which way is up and what to do about it. Either way, our altitude above the terrain can evaporate like summer rain on hot pavement. If the situation evolves into low-level aerobatics, we’re likely in very serious trouble.

Where We Go Astray

On every flight, we spend time at low altitude where any departure from normal flight attitudes and airspeeds can quickly evolve into a dangerous scenario. During these phases of flight, we could be particularly susceptible to becoming lost in the air. The time available to figure out what is going wrong and fix the problem can be exceedingly short.

The end result is often a dismal situation. According to the FAA, more than 25 percent of general aviation fatal accidents occur during the maneuvering phase of flight — turning, climbing, or descending close to the ground. It goes on to reveal that the vast majority of these accidents involve buzzing attempts, which we can attribute to poor judgment and stall/spin scenarios — half of which are while in the traffic pattern.

Accident data also reveals that more than half of all weather-related fatal accidents involve continued VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions. There is plenty of opportunity to get lost in such a situation.

Avoiding the Trap

Clearly, we can reduce the potential for becoming lost in the air by engaging in some serious training. We need to be proficient in recovering from unusual attitudes for sure, but perhaps our best insurance is an investment in some instrument training. Even if we don’t have an instrument rating, we should engage in periodic recurrency training in basic attitude instrument flying.

Finally, we need to maintain vigilance with regard to our decision-making. We need to assess both our physical and mental fitness for flight. We need to establish personal limits for flight conditions — and then stick with them like waterproof glue.

Epilogue

In the end, Simone Biles did make a comeback and win another medal. But, more importantly, she set an example for the team, for athletics competitors in general, and even for pilots as well. Like Biles, we need to take stock of our physical state, our degree of mental stress, and our level of confidence as we decide whether we are adequately prepared to take to the air. If our head is not in the game, if we haven’t been training regularly, or if we just aren’t mentally prepared, it might be better to sit one out. We can wait until we’re in a better position to take on the possible challenges. The last thing we need is to get lost in the air.

Robert N. Rossier, EAA 472091, has been flying for more than 40 years and has worked as a flight instructor, commercial pilot, chief pilot, and FAA flight check airman.