PA.VIII.B.R5

From the FAA library

• Instrument Flying Handbookp. 6-27
  Chapter 6, Section II: Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying › Common Errors › Fixation

  knot. Fixation can lead to attempting to keep the airspeed to an unnecessarily tight tolerance. There is no need to hold airspeed to within one knot; the Instrument Rating Practical Test Standards (PTS) allows greater latitude. Omission Another common error…

• Instrument Flying Handbookp. 8-2
  Chapter 8: Helicopter Attitude Instrument Flying › Instrument Flight › Instrument Cross-Check

  single instrument, instead of relying on a combination of instruments necessary for helicopter performance information. This differs from fixation in that other instruments are included in a cross-check, but too much attention is placed on one particular instrument. Figure ... descent, a pilot may concentrate on pitch control, while forgetting about heading or roll information. This error, called omission, results in erratic control of heading and bank…

• Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledgep. 17-27
  Chapter 17: Aeromedical Factors › Vision in Flight › Fascination (Fixation)

  light that is increasing or decreasing in luminance (brightness). Pilots may interpret the light as approaching or retreating. Fascination (Fixation) This illusion occurs when pilots ignore orientation cues and fix their attention on a goal or an object. Student pilots ... tend to have this happen when they are concentrating on the aircraft instruments or attempting to land. They become fixated on one task and forget to look at what is going on around them. At night, this can be especially…

• Instrument Flying Handbookp. 6-11
  Chapter 6, Section I: Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying › Fundamental Skills › Common Cross-Check Errors

  practice can result in many of the following common scanning errors, both during training and at any subsequent time. Fixation, or staring at a single instrument, usually occurs for a reason, but has poor results. For example, a pilot ... stare at the altimeter reading 200 feet below the assigned altitude, and wonder how the needle got there. While fixated on the instrument, increasing tension may be unconsciously exerted on the controls, which leads to an unnoticed heading change that…

• Airplane Flying Handbookp. 3-6
  Chapter 3: Basic Flight Maneuvers › Integrated Flight Instruction

  make pitch or bank corrections while still looking inside. It is also common for beginner pilots to fixate on the flight instruments—a conscious effort is required by them to return to outside visual references. For the first several hours ... flight instrument covers to develop a beginning pilot’s skill or to correct a pilot’s poor habit of fixating on instruments by forcing them to use outside visual references for aircraft control…

• Airplane Flying Handbookp. 2-14
  Chapter 2: Ground Operations › Risk and Resource Management › Resource Management

  mentally, any additional information becomes unattended or displaces other tasks and information already being processed. In addition, distraction and fixation impede the ability to process information. For example, if a pilot becomes distracted and fixates on an instrument light failure…