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One of the truly
awful effects of flying high-performance aircraft in the Southern Hemisphere
is illustrated here. Even very experienced pilots such as these
can suddenly fall into a state of complete spatial disorientation.
The pilot of the lead Skyhawk has managed to bring his plane back into
level flight, but what he hasn't yet realized is that he is level - but
upside down!
Although a well-documented
and actually quite common phenomenon, it wasn't until the late 1970s that
the cause was found - disturbance of fluid in the inner ear due to the
Coriolus Effect, the same force that causes water to rotate clockwise down
a sink in the Southern hemisphere, and counter-clockwise in the Northern
hemisphere.
Large passenger aircraft
which operate in the Southern hemisphere, such as 747s, are
all fitted
with alarm systems which warn the pilots when the plane is banking more
than 45 degrees.
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