Head Position of Helicopter Pilots During Slalom Maneuvers
Temme LA, Still DL. Head position of helicopter pilots during slalom maneuvers. Aviat Space Environ Med 2007; 78:38–42.
Introduction: Pilots typically tilt their heads when executing coordinated banking turns, a phenomenon commonly attributed to the putative opto-kinetic cervical reflex (OKCR). The OKCR is usually described as a reflex, primarily driven by stimuli in the visual periphery, and is important to a pilot’s spatial orientation by providing a relatively stabilized horizontal frame of reference. The present paper presents an alternative hypothesis for the observed head tilting seen in pilots. Methods: An archived data set, originally collected for other purposes, contained the head turn, pitch, and tilt of 4 helicopter pilots recorded at 10 Hz as the pilots executed 42 slalom maneuvers in an AH Mk 7 Lynx helicopter under visual flight conditions. The analytic method was a correlational analysis of head turn, pitch, and tilt. Results: As expected, pilots routinely tilted their heads during the slaloms in a fashion typically attributed to the OKCR. Correlations among head turn, tilt, and pitch showed that when the helicopter turned left, the head, presumably to look into the turn, turned left and also pitched up and tilted right. Similarly, when the helicopter turned right, the head, presumably to look into the turn, turned right, pitched up, and tilted left. Conclusions: The head tilting usually attributed to a neuromuscular reflex driven by visual stimuli may be a biomechanical consequence of the head posture pilots assume when they simply look where they are going, eliminating the need to postulate the existence of a novel neuromuscular reflex.
Introduction: Pilots typically tilt their heads when executing coordinated banking turns, a phenomenon commonly attributed to the putative opto-kinetic cervical reflex (OKCR). The OKCR is usually described as a reflex, primarily driven by stimuli in the visual periphery, and is important to a pilot’s spatial orientation by providing a relatively stabilized horizontal frame of reference. The present paper presents an alternative hypothesis for the observed head tilting seen in pilots. Methods: An archived data set, originally collected for other purposes, contained the head turn, pitch, and tilt of 4 helicopter pilots recorded at 10 Hz as the pilots executed 42 slalom maneuvers in an AH Mk 7 Lynx helicopter under visual flight conditions. The analytic method was a correlational analysis of head turn, pitch, and tilt. Results: As expected, pilots routinely tilted their heads during the slaloms in a fashion typically attributed to the OKCR. Correlations among head turn, tilt, and pitch showed that when the helicopter turned left, the head, presumably to look into the turn, turned left and also pitched up and tilted right. Similarly, when the helicopter turned right, the head, presumably to look into the turn, turned right, pitched up, and tilted left. Conclusions: The head tilting usually attributed to a neuromuscular reflex driven by visual stimuli may be a biomechanical consequence of the head posture pilots assume when they simply look where they are going, eliminating the need to postulate the existence of a novel neuromuscular reflex.
Keywords: head movements; head posture; helicopter pilots; helicopters; opto-kinetic cervical reflex; spatial disorientation
Document Type: Short Communication
Publication date: 01 January 2007
- The peer-reviewed monthly journal, Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine (ASEM) provides contact with physicians, life scientists, bioengineers, and medical specialists working in both basic medical research and in its clinical applications. It is the most used and cited journal in its field. ASEM is distributed to more than 80 nations.
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