“A Black-Hole Approach Illusion can happen during a final approach at night, with no stars or moonlight, over water or unlighted terrain to a lighted runway beyond which the horizon is not visible. When peripheral visual cues are not available to help you orient yourself relative to the earth, you may perceive the runway to be tilted left and up sloping.
In the example [circa 2003]
, the final approach fix (FAF) was at 5nm, but to fly a 3-deg flight path the descent should be delayed until 4.3nm.
An early descent from the FAF creates a shallow approach, and if the standard descent rate is used the aircraft will descend below the ideal flight path.
The VOR/DME is 0.4 nm before the runway threshold, thus some effort is required to cross check altitude against range to monitor the approach.
The approach chart used variable range scaling that indicated the DME displacement at approximately 1.5nm instead of 0.4nm, this might have encourage an early descent. The chart did not have an altitude – range table for the non-precision approach.
The analysis considered incorrect FMS programming, an early 3 degree approach, and a deliberate ‘dive and drive’ procedure.
However, none of the scenarios matched the recorded flight path.”
“A long straight-in final. A runway in a remote location, few lights in the local area, but with a town in the distance beyond the airport or to the side.”
Slides 7-10
‘Understanding Visual Illusions And Disorientation.’
For the TEM gurus, how many 'threats' in this scenario?