Dan:
"somatogravic illusion" covers a bit of ground. On a Missed, the addition of power, if you remain on your primary attitude reference (call it Artificial Horizon/Attitude Gyro/Attitude Indicator, or whatever the term is in your aircraft) should not be a "sudden acceleration." Smooth addition of power and increase in pitch is how it's supposed to be done. The illusion in any case is mitigated if your instrument departures in crap weather are flown on the instruments. Pilots do this every day in bad weather.
Are you suggesting that the PF got the leans or that his scan broke down?
If so, on what basis, from the info available, other than "aircraft hit the ground?"
Like any spatial disorientation, the somatogravic illusion doesn't
respect experience.
Agreed. Nor does gravity.
Unfortunately, the somatogravic illusion is hard to identify - largely because so few pilots who succumb live to tell the tale.
Are you suggesting that pilots are neither trained nor educated regarding this phenomenon?
There aren't hundreds of crashes per month anywhere, but somatogravic illusion accidents do feature heavily in carrier launches. During one period during the Vietnam war, the USN were losing a pilot a month to it.
The year is currently 2013, not 1968. Would you do us the favor of not mixing past and present tense? The USN no longer loses an aircraft a year to this feature of flying, no less one per month. (There are ample other causes, thanks very much.
)
Why do you think that is?
I'll tell you what I think the reason is: the phenomenon is known, and a thing called aviation physiology training works to mitigate that risk. I went through that training back in the early 80's for the first, and not the last, time when it was already well established.
Question for you: Do professional pilots in commercial aircraft not get training and education on this fundamental physiology problem?