SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/pilot-narrow-runway-illusion

A runway narrower than you are used to can make you think you are what?

Higher than you really are, so you may fly too low an approach.

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  1. Lower than you really are
  2. Higher than you really are ✔
  3. Farther left than you really are

Why: A narrow runway looks like a normal runway seen from farther up. A pilot who falls for it flies a lower approach and risks hitting objects short of the runway. A wider runway does the opposite.

Huh, didn't know that: An upsloping runway or upsloping terrain creates the same too-high illusion.

The dad joke
Why did the pilot think the skinny runway was far away? It was just playing hard to get.
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References

Answer: Higher than you really are. A narrow runway looks like a normal runway seen from farther up. A pilot who falls for it flies a lower approach and risks hitting objects short of the runway. A wider runway does the opposite.

  1. PHAK FAA-H-8083-25C Chapter 17, Aeromedical Factors www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/19_phak_ch17.pdf
    A narrower-than-usual runway can create an illusion that the aircraft is at a higher altitude than it actually is
    Checked 2026-10-09.

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