Of the senses, vision is the most important for safe flight. However, various terrain features and atmospheric conditions can create optical illusions. These illusions are primarily associated with landing. Since pilots must transition from reliance on instruments to visual cues outside the cockpit for landing at the end of an instrument approach, it is imperative they are aware of the potential problems associated with these illusions, and take appropriate corrective action. The major illusions leading to landing errors are described below.

Runway Width Illusion
A narrower-than-usual runway can create an illusion the aircraft is at a higher altitude than it actually is, especially when runway length-to-width relationships are comparable. The pilot who does not recognize this illusion will fly a lower approach, with the risk of striking objects along the approach path or landing short. A wider-than-usual runway can have the opposite effect, with the risk of leveling out high and landing hard, or overshooting the runway.

Runway and Terrain Slopes Illusion
An up-sloping runway, up-sloping terrain, or both, can create an illusion the aircraft is at a higher altitude than it actually is. The pilot who does not recognize this illusion will fly a lower approach. Down-sloping runways and Down-sloping approach terrain can have the opposite effect.

Featureless Terrain Illusion
An absence of surrounding ground features, as in an over-water approach, over darkened areas, or terrain made featureless by snow, can create an illusion the aircraft is at a higher altitude than it actually is. This illusion, sometimes referred to as the "black hole approach," causes pilots to fly a lower approach than is desired.

Water Refraction
Rain on the windscreen can create an illusion of being at a higher altitude due to the horizon appearing lower than it is. This can result in the pilot flying a lower approach.

Practice Makes Proficient
Through training and awareness in developing absolute reliance on the instruments, pilots can reduce their susceptibility to disorienting illusions.

Optical illusion: (in aircraft flight)
A misleading visual image of features on the ground associated with landing, which causes a pilot to misread the spatial relationships between the aircraft and the runway.

Haze
Atmospheric haze can create an illusion of being at a greater distance from the runway. As a result, the pilot will have a tendency to be high on the approach. Conversely, extremely clear air can give the pilot the illusion of being closer than he/she actually is, resulting in a long, low approach. The diffusion of light due to water particles can adversely affect depth perception. The lights and terrain features normally used to gauge height during landing become less effective for the pilot.

Fog
Penetration of fog can create an illusion of pitching up. Pilots who do not recognize this illusion will often steeped the approach quite abruptly.

Ground Lighting Illusions
Lights along a straight path, such as a road, and even lights on moving trains can be mistaken for runway and approach lights. Bright runway and approach lighting systems, especially where few lights illuminate the surrounding terrain, may create the illusion of less distance to the runway. The pilot who does not recognize this illusion will often fly a higher approach.

Four airlines are interested in purchasing the 49% share in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s national air carrier B&H Air. The Bosnian government will soon invite companies to register thir offers for the carrier. Currently Turkish Airlines has shown the most interest although the national carrier of neighbouring Croatia, Croatia Airlines, has also shown interest. CEO of the BH Airlines Nudžeim Rečica said that the company won’t be able to make a profit if it does not have a strategic partner. BH finished 2007 in the minus by 100,000 KM (Convertible Marks) which is one of the best results in the last couple of years and is enabling the airline to slowly approach a positive zero. There is also one airline from Italy and one from Malaysia interested in the purchase of BH. B&H is set to be the third airline to have shares sold this year as both Montenegro Airlines and Jat Airways are also up for sale and their sale will be realised late this year.

Slovenia’s Adria Airways has posted such strong passenger results so far that it has humiliated all west European low cost carriers which recently started services to the country after the liberalisation of Slovenian skies in 2004. The results are so strong that 80% of low cost carriers have now dumped Slovenia from their destination lists. Although easyJet with its single daily route to London Stansted has an almost 5% share of the scheduled market its attempts to serve Berlin were less successful. Daily services were begun in November 2004 but the route was abandoned at the end of March 2006. Wizz Air has tried and withdrawn two routes to Ljubljana. Both London Luton and Brussels Charleroi services were started in May 2006 but Luton was dropped after one year and the Brussels route ended in mid-January 2008.
Even Ryanair has struggled. Last June it began thrice-weekly flights from London Stansted to Maribor in the north-east of the country. However, despite carrying 33,800 passengers in 10 months at an average load factor of 71%, the route was axed at the end of March. In August Ryanair had carried 4,431 passengers at 90.2% load factor but this fell to 2,971 passengers at 56.1% load factor in January.

Meanwhile Adria dominates all outbound traffic from Slovenia. Its frequency share stands a 77% while its capacity share stands at 76.5%. Easyjet is second, Air France thirs followed by Turkish Airlines and CSA Czech Airlines in term of passenger numbers. Germany is the biggest country market from Adria’s hub Lljubljana is to Germany with Adria serving the Lufthansa hubs of Frankfurt and Munich with four daily flights. The airline’s fleet consists of three A320s, one B737-500, six CRJ200s, two CRJ900s and a single CRJ1000. A Fokker 100 is being wet-leased for the summer season from Carpatair bringing the fleet to 14 aircraft. Adria recently started servicing the city of Oslo in Norway with its CRJ900.

Statistics source: OAG Max and Anna Aero

Pilots can take action to prevent illusions and their potentially disastrous consequences if they:

1.        Understand the causes of these illusions and remain constantly alert for them.
2.        Always obtain preflight weather briefings.
3.        Do not continue flight into adverse weather conditions or into dusk or darkness unless proficient in the use of flight instruments.
4.        Ensure that when outside visual references are used, they are reliable, fixed points on the Earth's surface.
5.        Avoid sudden head movement, particularly during takeoffs, turns, and approaches to landing.
6.        Remember that illness, medication, alcohol, fatigue, sleep loss, and mild hypoxia is likely to increase susceptibility to spatial disorientation.
7.        Most importantly, become proficient in the use of flight instruments and rely upon them.

The sensations, which lead to illusions during instrument flight conditions, are normal perceptions experienced by pilots. These undesirable sensations cannot be completely prevented, but through training and awareness, pilots can ignore or suppress them by developing absolute reliance on the flight instruments. As pilots gain proficiency in instrument flying, they become less susceptible to these illusions and their effects.

Today Montenegro Airlines received its first new plane in many years. The Embraer 195 started its delivery journey from Cabral International Airport in Cape Verde on route to Rome’s Ciampino Airport yesterday arriving at 22.15CET. It departed from Ciampino at 12.00CET.

Live report

13.00 - The MGX E195 is set to arrive within the next few minutes.

13.10 - The delivery flight from Rome is numbered MGX 7503. Upon arrival in a few minutes a special ceremony will begin where politicians as well as MGX workers should be attending.

13.16 - The aircraft has arrived to Podgorica.

The new aircraft will begin regular service on June 15 operating from Podgorica to London Gatwick. Congratulations to the airline and there are high hopes there will be various deliveries for various airlines around ex-Yu this year. Croatia Airlines started a few weeks ago.

The Bosnian national air carrier B&H Airlines is looking to purchase at least one new aircraft. As the CEO of the airline Nudžeim Rečica said, the purchase of one aircraft is necessary for the airline this year. He said once the aircraft arrives the other ones in the fleet may be used for shorter distance destinations such as Zagreb (currently operated by Croatia Airlines in codeshare with B&H) and Belgrade (currently operated by Jat Airways in codeshare with B&H) while a strategic partner would be found for designations Stockholm, Gothenburg and Copenhagen. “There is a possibility for us to open up services to Brussels and Amsterdam as well which would connect our passengers coming in from the US and Canada)” says Rečica.

Jat and BH airlines have signed a codeshare agreement on route Belgrade-Sarajevo in late 2006 which is operated by Jat however is sold as both a Jat and BH flight. “We have a really strong partnership with Jat Airways” says Rečica. He says that the BH team has analysed the profitability of this route and have concluded that there is room for another airline. The airline is 90% sure it will start services to Belgrade in September or October this year. Due to a special partnership BH could sell tickets to Jat’s destinations. It would transport passengers to Belgrade which will upon arrival be handled by Jat onto further destinations.

Serbia’s vice premier Božidar Đelić who is in St. Petersburg, Russia announced. after talks with Aeroflot CEO. great interest from the Russian carrier to purchase the 81 year old Serbian airline. Đelić stated it was important that such a large airline as Aeroflot is still interested in Jat “after the worsening situation in the global aviation market”. The two went through the steps which have been taken to resolve Jat’s ownership of its (soon to be independent) technical company “Jat Tehnika” and platforms at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport. Igor Levtin, Russia’s minister for transportation also attended the serious talks. The Russian airline has devised a seven year business plan for Jat which includes the development of Belgrade into a regional aviation hub and the purchase of smaller longer range aircraft rather than bigger short range aircraft. The privatisation of Serbia’s national airline will be the most important investment this year in Serbia. Iceland’s national airline Icelandair is also interested in JU however recent talks suggest that Jat may be sold to Aeroflot as early as September this year.

The precise share of the sale is yet unknown although it has been suggested that 49% will be owned by the Serbian Government, 50% by Aeroflot and 1% by an airline registered in the EU (this would be done so Jat could remain Serbia’s national airline).