This SKYbrary material is promoted in the EASA Community Rotorcraft to broaden visibility and reach.
The key defence against visual and vestibular illusion is "follow the ADI"
SKYbrary eNews, 29 June 2026
Quote: On 31 October 2019, a helicopter departing a helipad at Dokdo, South Korea, at night crashed into the sea after the pilot became spatially disoriented and did not respond to alerts from both the travelling engineer and the copilot to the unintended descending flight path. All seven occupants were killed and the helicopter was destroyed. The absence of a departure briefing was assessed as contributory. However, findings on the underlying context for the accident involved procedural and training issues regarding the operational regime for emergency medical flights.
Refer to this SKYbrary article:
EC225, vicinity Dokdo South Korea, 2019 | SKYbrary Aviation Safety
Related SKYbrary material:
Helicopter Somatogravic Illusions (SKYclip) | SKYbrary Aviation Safety
Spatial Disorientation | SKYbrary Aviation Safety
Somatographic illusions, from the SKYbrary Spatial Disorientation article
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