Originally Posted by
WHBM
This is very true. Take the FedEx logo on the side of their aircraft and everywhere. Most see it initially as five letters. Only when somebody points out that the space between the orange E and the X forms a (deliberate) right pointing arrow do you see this, and thereafter whenever you see the logo it is difficult to not do so. To those who have "seen it" then it is "obvious". Not to others. And once you have seen the lights of the right-hand strip, that is what your brain is going for. Goodness, people have quite regularly lined up on and landed at the wrong nearby airport, let alone taxyway.
Whatever happened is not an illusion. There is nothing illusory in the scene presented to them - there is nothing latent, nothing hiding. They simply do not see it. The closest incident to this one is Comair at Lexington. "Man that is weird with no lights..." Why would any pilot with more than 3 days' experience at commercial airports in the dark not immediately hit the brakes when he perceives himself to be on a runway with no lights?
It is often said that pilots must be far ahead of the airplane. I think this can be taken too far. The steps have become so routine and the automation so unchanging that the crew seemed to be too far ahead of the plane, maybe tasting the beer already and headed for a well-earned rest. In any case something needs to be done about all this, something binding and something with serious intent.
-drl