A Psychophysical Contribution to Air Safety: Simulator Studies of Visual Illusions in Night Visual Approaches

It is often asked how the work of engineering psychologists is applied. There are many examples demonstrating how an improved design can increase performance with displays and controls, or how the redesign of controls has avoided repetitive errors. There are numerous systems studies in which the flow information per unit has been accelerated by the application of principles from the behavioral sciences. This chapter is an account of an experimental laboratory investigation that provided the aircraft industry with an explanation for a number of accidents. This series of experiments changed the interpretation of these accidents and avoided a possible redirection of effort that would have taken the industry away from the most successful of the second-generation jet aircraft.