1. False Horizons
Nicholas Soto

2. Overview What is a False Horizon? Conditions Hazards to Aviation
Types of False Horizons
City Lights
Road Lights
Cloud Layers
Obscured Horizons
Overcome a False Horizon
Proper Instrument Scan
Flight Planning
NTSB Report

3. What is a False Horizon?
A False Horizon is when the natural horizon is obscured or not readily apparent
Is not created due to an eye limitation!
Created from terrain features
Rising terrain
Lights from a busy road
Calm water and clear skies
Sloping cloud layer
Low visibility or haze
Day or night
Completely obscured horizon is also a false horizon

4. Hazards to aviation Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT)
An airworthy a/c under pilot control is flow into the ground
Fixation
Not using CRM
Pilot levels a/c with false horizon
False horizon can cause a hazardous attitude
Nose high attitude
Cause a/c to stall
Break altitude restrictions
Nose low attitude
Impact ground or obstacles
Break VNE
Spatial Disorientation

5. City Lights with rising terrain

6. Calm water and clear skies

7. Low visibility

8. ???

9. Cloud layer

11. Overcome a False Horizon Illusion
Flight Planning
Known false horizon illusions
Proper Instrument Scan
Relay what you see outside with a/c instruments
Trust your Instruments
Spatial disorientation can occur
Attitude Indicator, Turn Coordinator, Altimeter, Airspeed Indicator, Vertical Speed Indicator

12. NTSB report NTSB Identification: NYC99MA178
Friday, July 16, 1999 in VINEYARD HAVEN, MA
Aircraft: Piper PA-32R-301, registration: N9253N
3 Fatal
Non instrument-rated pilot
Conditions: 4-10 miles vis due to haze, night flying
Flew over 30 mile stretch of water at 5,500
7 miles from approaching shore began right turn descent to 2,200
Climbed back to 2,600 and entered a left turn with a 900 FPM descent
Then entered a right turn with a descent of 4,700 FPM impacting the water
Other pilots reported obscured or no visual horizon
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation. Factors in the accident were haze, and the dark night.

13. References
National Transportation Safety Board. Report No. NYC99MA178, Published 07/16/1999,
Jeppesen. Rotorcraft Flying Handbook, City: Englewood, CO, Published 2007
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, “Spatial Disorientation Confusion that Kills”
Jeppesen. Guided Flight Discovery Private Pilot, City: Englewood, CO, Published 2007

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