This is a significant safety event.
No matter how much we think that we will be able to detect failure situations or ignore poor quality data, we may be unable to do so.
The quest for better awareness has just moved the potential for error elsewhere, and of great concern is that because 'it looks good' we tend to trust it. 'More' does not necessarily mean better awareness.
"Both pilots commented that they had previously experienced failure of primary flight instruments at low level and at night in different aircraft (without synthetic vision systems). They had been able to disregard the erroneous or failed instruments and reference the standby instruments to maintain control of the aircraft and situational awareness. However, the prominence of the synthetic vision display is such that it is difficult to ignore erroneous information and locate valid information. Additionally, the pilot flying reported feeling a level motion sickness, probably associated with the combined effects of the prominent synthetic vision display and conflicting vestibular sensory information.
The pilot flying reported that they realised something was wrong but could not initially figure out what it was.
The pilots commented that it was impossible to discern the valid attitude information on the PFD (overlaid on top of the synthetic vision) and revert to flying ‘power and attitude’ given the prominence of the erroneous synthetic vision information."