Plain English Meaning

Locking your eyes onto one instrument and forgetting to check the others. While you are staring at one gauge, the airplane may be quietly drifting off altitude, heading, or attitude on the gauges you are not looking at.

Full Definition

A scan error in which a pilot stares at a single instrument for too long instead of moving the eyes systematically across the full instrument panel. The fixed gaze prevents the cross-check needed to detect changes in pitch, bank, heading, or altitude on the other instruments.

Context Anchor

Seen in instrument flying discussions about scan , especially when correcting pitch during .