Flight Deck Aesthetics and Pilot Performance: New Uncharted Seas

2016 ◽  
pp. 381-402 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Performance ◽  
Flight Deck

Asiana Airlines Flight 214

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Chow ◽  
Stephen Yortsos ◽  
Najmedin Meshkati
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Aviation Safety ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Flight Crew ◽  
Pilot Performance ◽  
Engineering Designs ◽  
Flight Deck

This article focuses on a major human factors–related issue that includes the undeniable role of cultural factors and cockpit automation and their serious impact on flight crew performance, communication, and aviation safety. The report concentrates on the flight crew performance of the Boeing 777–Asiana Airlines Flight 214 accident, by exploring issues concerning mode confusion and autothrottle systems. It also further reviews the vital role of cultural factors in aviation safety and provides a brief overview of past, related accidents. Automation progressions have been created in an attempt to design an error-free flight deck. However, to do that, the pilot must still thoroughly understand every component of the flight deck – most importantly, the automation. Otherwise, if pilots are not completely competent in terms of their automation, the slightest errors can lead to fatal accidents. As seen in the case of Asiana Flight 214, even though engineering designs and pilot training have greatly evolved over the years, there are many cultural, design, and communication factors that affect pilot performance. It is concluded that aviation systems designers, in cooperation with pilots and regulatory bodies, should lead the strategic effort of systematically addressing the serious issues of cockpit automation, human factors, and cultural issues, including their interactions, which will certainly lead to better solutions for safer flights.

scholarly journals Understanding Variance in Pilot Performance Ratings

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Mavin ◽  
Wolff-Michael Roth ◽  
Sidney Dekker
Keyword(s):  
Rating Scale ◽  
Performance Ratings ◽  
Scale Analysis ◽  
Rate Performance ◽  
Performance Study ◽  
Pilot Performance ◽  
Airline Pilots ◽  
Think Aloud Protocol ◽  
Point Rating Scale ◽  
Flight Deck

Two studies were designed to investigate how pilots of different rank evaluate flight-deck performance. In each study, the pilots were asked to assess sets of three different videotaped scenarios featuring pilots in a simulator exhibiting poor, average, and good performance. Study 1, which included 92 airline pilots of differing rank, was aimed at comparing how individuals rate performance. The subjects used a standardized assessment form, which included six criteria, each having a 5-point rating scale. Analysis of the first study revealed that there was considerable variance in the performance ratings between flight examiners, captains, and first officers. The second study was designed to better understand the variance. Eighteen pilots (six flight examiners, six captains, and six first officers) working in pairs evaluated performances, in a modified think-aloud protocol. The results showed that there were good reasons for the observed variances. The results are discussed in relation to inter-rater reliability.

Effects of Modality on Interrupted Flight Deck Performance: Implications for Data Link

1998 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara A. Latorella
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Control ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
Information Service ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Auditory Task ◽  
Pilot Performance ◽  
Data Link ◽  
Fixed Base ◽  
Commercial Flight ◽  
Flight Deck

Externally-imposed tasks frequently interrupt ongoing task performance in the commercial flight deck. While normally managed without consequence, basic research as well as aviation accident and incident investigations show that interruptions can negatively affect performance and safety. This research investigates the influence of interruption and interrupted task modality on pilot performance in a simulated commercial flight deck. Fourteen current commercial airline pilots performed approach scenarios in a fixed-base flight simulator. Air traffic control instructions, conveyed either aurally or visually ( via a data link system) interrupted a visual task (obtaining information from the Flight Management System) and an auditory task (listening to the automated terminal information service recording). Some results confirm the hypothesized performance advantage of cross-modality conditions, more compelling nature of auditory interruptions, and interruption-resistance of auditory ongoing tasks. However, taken together, results suggest the four interaction conditions had different effects on pilot performance. These results have implications for the design of data link systems, and for facilitating interruption management through interface design, aiding, and training programs.

Flight Deck Task Management: A Cognitive Engineering Analysis

1996 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Formal Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Engineering ◽  
Task Management ◽  
Engineering Analysis ◽  
Pilot Performance ◽  
Mental Processes ◽  
Flight Decks ◽  
Flight Deck Design ◽  
Flight Deck

Flight deck task management (TM) is a mostly cognitive function that is not well understood. There is increasing evidence of difficulties in unassisted pilot performance of TM, and it is anticipated that the complexity and scope of TM on future flight decks will increase. This all points to the need for a formal analysis of TM as part of the flight deck design process. To this end, cognitive engineering techniques were used to analyze the mental processes involved in flight deck TM. Normative and operational descriptions of TM were developed based, respectively, on previous analyses and pilot interviews. The two descriptions present interesting contrasts, but they are complementary, and in combination, provide a useful framework for beginning to address TM more formally within the flight deck design process.

scholarly journals Integrating Critical Information on Flight Deck Displays

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia May Ververs ◽  
Michael C. Dorneich ◽  
Michael D. Good ◽  
Joshua Lee Downs
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evaluation ◽  
Flight Simulation ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Pilot Performance ◽  
Critical Information ◽  
Simulation Laboratory ◽  
Data Support ◽  
Alerting Systems ◽  
Flight Deck

Honeywell Laboratories has developed a concept for integrating multiple sources of data concerning information outside the aircraft. The concept, ANCOA (Alerting and Notification for Conditions Outside the Aircraft), was conceived as means for reducing error conflicts and establishing a clear prioritization among currently independent and disparate alerting systems for hazards external to the aircraft (e.g., TCAS, EGPWS). This paper documents an empirical evaluation of ANCOA by 12 professional pilots. The concept was evaluated in Honeywell Laboratories' Flight Simulation Laboratory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Two core ANCOA features were manipulated and compared. The first was the integration of information by comparing ANCOA's integrated, overlaid features to a traditional display layout where the information was available on separate displays. The second variable was the categorization for incoming alerts (traffic, terrain, weather, scheduling constraints) by comparing alerts sorted by category to those without a category differentiation. Data support the integration of currently disparate systems onto a single display with performance requiring fewer pilot inputs and yielding lower workload scores. Categorization had little influence on pilot performance.

scholarly journals Situation Awareness Adaptive Alerting in an Aircraft Cockpit: A Simulator Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Schwerd ◽  
Axel Schulte
Keyword(s):  
Change Detection ◽  
Situation Awareness ◽  
Subjective Rating ◽  
Flight Crew ◽  
Pilot Performance ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Adaptive Support ◽  
Flight Deck ◽  
Random Times ◽  
Change Detection Performance

The goal of this study was to develop an automated cockpit support system that is adaptive to the flight crew’s situation awareness (SA) estimated by online gaze analysis. Flight crew errors are often attributed to low SA. Online measurement of SA could be used to automatically guide the user’s attention for the sake of fewer errors and better performance.An eye-tracking based measure for SA was developed and used for the adaptive generation of alerts in a flight simulator. In an experiment, ten certified pilots conducted two trials with no and adaptive alerting. The experimental task involved tracking of flight parameters which were partially disturbed or changed at random times. Our online estimation of SA showed a strong correlation with observed pilot performance. With adaptive alerts, the average performance increased in those experimental tasks, where a situational change could not be predicted by participants. Also, adaptive alerts improved change detection and reduced the number of outliers, where a change was not noticed for an exceptionally long time. However, subjective rating was poor due to low transparency and false positives. SA-adaptive support can improve change detection performance in typical tasks on the flight deck. For a greater acceptance, pilots should be trained to understand the adaption policy.

Cognitive Factors Mediate the Relation Between Age and Flight Path Maintenance in General Aviation

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Van Benthem ◽  
Chris M. Herdman
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Flight Path ◽  
General Aviation ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Pilot Performance ◽  
Pilot Error ◽  
Age Related ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Identifying pilot attributes associated with risk is important, especially in general aviation where pilot error is implicated in most accidents. This research examined the relationship of pilot age, expertise, and cognitive functioning to deviations from an ideal circuit trajectory. In all, 54 pilots, of varying age, flew a Cessna 172 simulator. Cognitive measures were obtained using the CogScreen-AE ( Kay, 1995 ). Older age and lower levels of expertise and cognitive functioning were associated with significantly greater flight path deviations. The relationship between age and performance was fully mediated by a cluster of cognitive factors: speed and working memory, visual attention, and cognitive flexibility. These findings add to the literature showing that age-related changes in cognition may impact pilot performance.

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