Spatial disorientation and IIMC

Photo above: iStock/JumpStock HAI@Work webinar highlights rare in-flight recovery that led to stronger training. During an evening search-and-rescue mission in November 2019, HAI’s 2021 Salute to Excellence Pilot of the Year, US Coast Guard (USCG) LCDR Robert McCabe, and his pilot-in-command experienced potentially disastrous spatial disorientation. After the sun set, a squall with sleet blew in, reducing visibility and raising the sea level. The low visibility, rough water, spotlights in flying sleet, and slow turns soon gave both pilots the leans. McCabe’s quick thinking helped the crew recover, and his report from the incident has since changed the USCG’s training for spatial disorientation and inadvertent entry into instrument meteorological conditions (IIMC). During the HAI@Work webinar on May 20, McCabe discussed the incident in detail. Despite his more than 2,000 hours of flight time, he still fell victim to spatial disorientation, highlighting how anyone can encounter the situation, regardless of skill or experience. He shared with attendees the wisdom he gained from that mission a year and a half ago. “Train hard,” McCabe advised as a key takeaway. “It’s really incumbent on us to train in preparation for an event like this. I was training in hovering on instruments all the