The problem of spatial disorientation and professional selection of flight personnel

The study analyzed the results of an experimental study on the influence of optokinetic, statokinetic, and combined optostatokinetic types on the spatial orientation of aviation profile operators. Three series of experiments were conducted, with the participation of 32 men aged 22–23 years, who had previously been assessed for vestibular stability using the intermittent cumulation of Coriolis accelerations. In the first series, the statokinetic effect was analyzed by performing a vestibular test “Otolith reaction-10” on an electric rotating chair “Nydiag.” In the second series, the condition of being inside an optokinetic drum was imitated, for which virtual reality glasses “VRBoxVR 2.0” were used. In the third series, the combined static–optokinetic effect was analyzed. If all the participants took part in the first two series, then only 27 people took part in the third because five participants, who experienced a significant deterioration in well-being and exhibited pronounced vegetative reactions after combined stato-optokinetic exposure, could not complete the vestibular test on an aviation simulator in full and were forced to refuse further participation. The combined optostatokinetic effect has the most pronounced negative effect on the quality of spatial orientation, in which the generalized piloting error and the time of bringing the aircraft simulator to the specified parameters were greatly affected than with isolated types of exposure. Thus, the assessment of only statokinetic stability does not allow us to fully assess high-quality aerobatic ability with high indicators of qualitative characteristics of spatial orientation. Moreover, the quality of a pilot’s spatial orientation is one of the most important parameters of piloting, which directly affects flight safety. However, only the degree of vestibular stability is assessed in the initial selection to educational institutions for the training of flight personnel, without predicting the effect of this characteristic on the quality of spatial orientation. Considering these results, at the stage of medical selection to higher educational institutions for the training of flight personnel, we propose evaluating not only isolated statokinetic resistance but also resistance to combined optostatokinetic effects.