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NASA NTRS2016

Analysis of Pilot Feedback Regarding the Use of State Awareness Technologies During Complex Situations

A flight simulation study was conducted at NASA Langley Research Center to evaluate flight deck systems that (1) predict aircraft energy state and/or autoflight configuration, (2) present the current state and expected future state of automated systems, and/or (3) show the state of flight-critical data systems in use by automated systems and primary flight instruments. Four new technology concepts were evaluated vis-à-vis current state-of-the-art flight deck systems and indicators. This human-in-the-loop study was conducted using commercial airline crews. Scenarios spanned a range of complex conditions and several emulated causal factors and complexity in recent accidents involving loss of state awareness by pilots (e.g. energy state, automation state, and/or system state). Data were collected via questionnaires administered after each flight, audio/video recordings, physiological data, head and eye tracking data, pilot control inputs, and researcher observations. This paper strictly focuses on findings derived from the questionnaire responses. It includes analysis of pilot subjective measures of complexity, decision making, workload, situation awareness, usability, and acceptability.

Evans, Emory↗

NASA NTRS2008

2D/3D Synthetic Vision Navigation Display

Flight-deck display software was designed and developed at NASA Langley Research Center to provide two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) terrain, obstacle, and flight-path perspectives on a single navigation display. The objective was to optimize the presentation of synthetic vision (SV) system technology that permits pilots to view multiple perspectives of flight-deck display symbology and 3D terrain information. Research was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the concept. The concept has numerous unique implementation features that would permit enhanced operational concepts and efficiencies in both current and future aircraft.

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III↗

NASA NTRS2004

A Formal Methods Approach to the Analysis of Mode Confusion

The goal of the new NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) is to reduce the civil aviation fatal accident rate by 80% in ten years and 90% in twenty years. This program is being driven by the accident data with a focus on the most recent history. Pilot error is the most commonly cited cause for fatal accidents (up to 70%) and obviously must be given major consideration in this program. While the greatest source of pilot error is the loss of situation awareness , mode confusion is increasingly becoming a major contributor as well. The January 30, 1995 issue of Aviation Week lists 184 incidents and accidents involving mode awareness including the Bangalore A320 crash 2/14/90, the Strasbourg A320 crash 1/20/92, the Mulhouse-Habsheim A320 crash 6/26/88, and the Toulouse A330 crash 6/30/94. These incidents and accidents reveal that pilots sometimes become confused about what the cockpit automation is doing. Consequently, human factors research is an obvious investment area. However, even a cursory look at the accident data reveals that the mode confusion problem is much deeper than just training deficiencies and a lack of human-oriented design. This is readily acknowledged by human factors experts. It seems that further progress in human factors must come through a deeper scrutiny of the internals of the automation. It is in this arena that formal methods can contribute. Formal methods refers to the use of techniques from logic and discrete mathematics in the specification, design, and verification of computer systems, both hardware and software. The fundamental goal of formal methods is to capture requirements, designs and implementations in a mathematically based model that can be analyzed in a rigorous manner. Research in formal methods is aimed at automating this analysis as much as possible. By capturing the internal behavior of a flight deck in a rigorous and detailed formal model, the dark corners of a design can be analyzed. This paper will explore how formal models and analyses can be used to help eliminate mode confusion from flight deck designs and at the same time increase our confidence in the safety of the implementation. The paper is based upon interim results from a new project involving NASA Langley and Rockwell Collins in applying formal methods to a realistic business jet Flight Guidance System (FGS).

Butler, Ricky W.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Transformational Phenomena as Predictors of Aircraft Accidents: What Goes Around Comes Around

Flight crew confusion, excessive stressworkload, and ineffective Crew Resource Management among other issues arising from dependence on automated systems on the flight deck have been identified as major causal factors in multiple fatal accidents, significant incidents and near misses. Many Loss of Control events have been traced to display of erroneous flight data and auto-flight system mode status to the crew. Safety was compromised by not having sufficiently obvious and unambiguous information available in order to permit quick diagnosis of aircraft status and then appropriate action to regain control of the aircraft energy state or trajectory. Continually evolving training and operational requirements related to aircraft automation have also presented critical challenges to commercial aviation. During times of high demand and low supply of experienced pilots (which is today the case in South-East Asia, for instance), basic training in manual flight may be minimal and as low as a few hundred flight hours on light aircraft before beginning training on advanced, highly automated aircraft. Predominant use of automation may cause aircrew trained in this way to have trouble performing traditionally simple operations such as manually switching to other runways or overriding the autopilot in tight situations. Inadequate crew training andor experience coupled with attempted manual flight in highly automated airplanes may more easily lead to loss of aircraft control in unusual situations such as high-altitude stallsupsets, traffic avoidance or maneuvering. Loss of basic piloting skills through increasing dependence on automation may exacerbate this problem. Finally, design changes by nature take a long time and are very costly. Incorporating novel automated functionality into new aircraft designs is technically feasible and desirable. However, it may take many years for these changes to have a significant impact on tomorrows fleet, given the time it takes to develop a new aircraft and for these aircraft to become a significant fraction of the fleet. This paper will review and summarize the findings and recommendations from a 2004 study of the topic, Increasing reliance on flight deck automation conducted by the Future Aviation Safety Team at the behest of the Joint Safety Strategy Initiative (JSSI) within the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) organization that existed at the time. Although this study was conducted more than ten years ago, its findings and recommendations are as relevant now as then and into the future.

safety↗

NASA NTRS2016

Wind Information Uplink to Aircraft Performing Interval Management Operations

Interval Management (IM) is an ADS-B-enabled suite of applications that use ground and flight deck capabilities and procedures designed to support the relative spacing of aircraft (Barmore et al., 2004, Murdoch et al. 2009, Barmore 2009, Swieringa et al. 2011; Weitz et al. 2012). Relative spacing refers to managing the position of one aircraft to a time or distance relative to another aircraft, as opposed to a static reference point such as a point over the ground or clock time. This results in improved inter-aircraft spacing precision and is expected to allow aircraft to be spaced closer to the applicable separation standard than current operations. Consequently, if the reduced spacing is used in scheduling, IM can reduce the time interval between the first and last aircraft in an overall arrival flow, resulting in increased throughput. Because IM relies on speed changes to achieve precise spacing, it can reduce costly, low-altitude, vectoring, which increases both efficiency and throughput in capacity-constrained airspace without negatively impacting controller workload and task complexity. This is expected to increase overall system efficiency. The Flight Deck Interval Management (FIM) equipment provides speeds to the flight crew that will deliver them to the achieve-by point at the controller-specified time, i.e., assigned spacing goal, after the target aircraft crosses the achieve-by point (Figure 1.1). Since the IM and target aircraft may not be on the same arrival procedure, the FIM equipment predicts the estimated times of arrival (ETA) for both the IM and target aircraft to the achieve-by point. This involves generating an approximate four-dimensional trajectory for each aircraft. The accuracy of the wind data used to generate those trajectories is critical to the success of the IM operation. There are two main forms of uncertainty in the wind information used by the FIM equipment. The first is the accuracy of the forecast modeling done by the weather provider. This is generally a global environmental prediction obtained from a weather model such as the Rapid Refresh (RAP) from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The weather forecast data will have errors relative to the actual, or truth, winds that the aircraft will encounter. The second source of uncertainty is that only a small subset of the forecast data can be uplinked to the aircraft for use by the FIM equipment. This results in loss of additional information. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and RTCA are currently developing standards for the communication of wind and atmospheric data to the aircraft for use in NextGen operations. This study examines the impact of various wind forecast sampling methods on IM performance metrics to inform the standards development.

Ahmad, Nashat N.↗

NASA NTRS1995

A Laboratory Glass-Cockpit Flight Simulator for Automation and Communications Research

A laboratory glass-cockpit flight simulator supporting research on advanced commercial flight deck and Air Traffic Control (ATC) automation and communication interfaces has been developed at the Aviation Operations Branch at the NASA Ames Research Center. This system provides independent and integrated flight and ATC simulator stations, party line voice and datalink communications, along with video and audio monitoring and recording capabilities. Over the last several years, it has been used to support the investigation of flight human factors research issues involving: communication modality; message content and length; graphical versus textual presentation of information, and human accountability for automation. This paper updates the status of this simulator, describing new functionality in the areas of flight management system, EICAS display, and electronic checklist integration. It also provides an overview of several experiments performed using this simulator, including their application areas and results. Finally future enhancements to its ATC (integration of CTAS software) and flight deck (full crew operations) functionality are described.

Pisanich, Gregory M.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Cockpit data management

This study is a continuation of an FAA effort to alleviate the growing problems of assimilating and managing the flow of data and flight related information in the air transport flight deck. The nature and extent of known pilot interface problems arising from new NAS data management programs were determined by a comparative timeline analysis of crew tasking requirements. A baseline of crew tasking requirements was established for conventional and advanced flight decks operating in the current NAS environment and then compared to the requirements for operation in a future NAS environment emphasizing Mode-S data link and TCAS. Results showed that a CDU-based pilot interface for Mode-S data link substantially increased crew visual activity as compared to the baseline. It was concluded that alternative means of crew interface should be available during high visual workload phases of flight. Results for TCAS implementation showed substantial visual and motor tasking increases, and that there was little available time between crew tasks during a TCAS encounter. It was concluded that additional research should be undertaken to address issues of ATC coordination and the relative benefit of high workload TCAS features.

Groce, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Analysis of Eye-Tracking Data During Conditions Conducive to Loss of Airplane State Awareness

In the constant drive to further the safety and efficiency of air travel, the complexity of avionics-related systems and of the procedures for interacting with them appear to be on an ever-increasing trend. While this growing complexity often yields productive results with respect to system capabilities and flight efficiency, it typically places a larger burden on pilots to manage increasing amounts of information and to understand intricate system designs. This can be problematic as too much information and/or ineffective provisions of information can potentially overwhelm and/or confuse pilots, and as a result, increase the likelihood of loss of airplane state awareness (ASA). One way to gain more insight into this issue is through experimentation using more objective measures. This study summarizes an analysis of eye-tracking data obtained during a high-fidelity flight simulation study that included most of the complexities of current flight decks, as well as several planned for the next generation air transportation system. Multiple analyses were performed to understand how the 22 participating airline pilots were observing ASA-related information provided during different stages of flights and in response to specific events within these stages. Also, study findings are compared to data presented in similar previous studies to assess trends or common themes regarding how airline crews apply visual attention in complex flight deck and operational environments.

Dill, Evan T.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Weather Information Communication Technologies for Increased Safety and Mobility in the National Airspace System

The purpose of the NASA Glenn Research Center Weather Information Communications (WINCOMM) project was to develop advanced communications and information technologies to enable the high-quality and timely dissemination of strategic weather information between the flight deck and ground users as well as tactical turbulence hazard information between relevant aircraft and to the ground. This report will document and reference accomplishments on the dissemination of weather information during the en route phase of flight from ground-based weather information providers to the flight deck (ground-to-air), from airborne meteorological sensors to ground users (air-to-ground), and weather turbulence and icing hazard information between relevant aircraft (air-to-air). In addition, references in this report will demonstrate the architecture necessary to implement and perform successful transmission and reception of weather information to the cockpit, show that weather information flow does not impact "normal" traffic, demonstrate the feasibility of operational implementation, and lay foundation for future data link development.

Hilderman, Don R.↗

NASA NTRS2014

A Concept of Operations for Far-Term Surface Trajectory-Based Operations (STBO)

The goal of this far-term STBO (Surface Trajectory-Based Operations) ConOps (Concept of Operations) is to increase the efficiency and predictability of airport surface operations, and reduce the environmental impact, by incorporating a time-based component to surface operations. In the far-term NextGen timeframe, airport surface operations will transition from current-day first-come, first-served operations, to strategically scheduled operations in which pilots are recruited as active participants in meeting the precise time-based goals of NextGen surface operations. The far-term STBO concept includes two-phases. Phase 1 introduces time-based traffic flow constraint points, which divide the taxi route into segments with an assigned Required Time of Arrival (RTA). This Phase 1 approach provides temporal certainty only near the traffic flow constraint points, but not in between. Minimal augmentations to the flight deck are required to support required time of arrival (RTA) management. Phase 2 further increases precision and efficiency by introducing full four-dimensional (4D) trajectories, with an x-y location for all times t. This phase assumes adoption of advanced flight deck equipage enabling higher temporal precision sufficient to support aircraft conformance to 4D trajectories. This allows more precision and less temporal uncertainty at all times along the route.

Surface Trajectory-Based Operations (STBO)↗

NASA NTRS1982

Teleoperator maneuvering system

The teleoperator maneuvering system (TMS), consisting of the vehicle, the shuttle orbiter bay cradle with airborne support equipment, and the aft flight deck control station, is described. The vehicle is a reusable remotely controlled free flying vehicle capable of a variety of missions including payload placement, retrieval, servicing, viewing, and large space systems assembly support. The TMS flies preprogrammed trajectories as well as being controlled or reprogrammed from the aft flight deck or the ground. A building block design philosophy is described which permits the evolution of capability as it is needed and delays cost as much as possible. Various mission operations are discussed.

Turner, J. R.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Autonomous Contingency Management In Urban Air Mobility: The Communication Network Awareness Machine System

Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) has begun the modernization of the nation’s air transportation system (NAS), with goals to improve system safety, increase operation efficiency and capacity, provide enhanced predictability, resilience and robustness [1]. The overall objective of the Air Traffic Management-eXploration (ATM-X) project is to facilitate the goals of NextGen by conducting research to enable the growing demand of new, mission variant, air vehicles with safe access to the NAS. The implementation and utilization of new and burgeoning technologies that are both flexible, scalable, and systematically user-focused are requisite for ATM-X to achieve its intention of NAS safe entry [2]. Researchers from NASA Langley’s Flight Deck Integration Team have developed a system architecture that would allow ATM-X to leverage the necessary capabilities of an Increasingly Autonomous System (IAS), machine-agent that will promote the safe access and operation of air vehicles within what has become the byproduct of NextGen modernization, a Net-Centric airspace architecture and an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) community. Conducting flight operations within this type of architecture constrains the human-agent’s natural ability by data management. When the massive volume of data, its types, and the acquisition speed at which the data is ingested is observed it becomes evident that the human-agent will be functioning at an operational disadvantage. Therefore, the development and integration of intelligent machine-agents into the flight deck are a necessary implementation to achieve ATM-X overall objective of safe access and operation in the NAS.

Urban Air Mobility↗

NASA NTRS1994

Initial Field Evaluation of Pilot Procedures for Flying CTAS Descent Clearances

The Center TRACON Automation System (CTAS) is a new support system that is designed to assist air traffic controllers in the management of arrival traffic. CTAS will provide controllers with more information about current air traffic, enabling them to provide clearances for efficient, conflict-free descents that help achieve an orderly stream of aircraft at the final approach fix. CTAS is a computer-based system that functions as a "ground-based FMS" that can predict flight trajectories and arrival times for all incoming aircraft. CTAS uses an aircraft's cruise airspeed; current air traffic, winds and temperature; performance characteristics of the aircraft type; and individual airline preferences to create a flight profile from cruise altitude to the final approach fix. Controllers can use this flight profile to provide a descent clearance that will allow an aircraft to fly an efficient descent and merge more smoothly with other arriving aircraft. A field test of the CTAS Descent Advisor software was conducted at the Denver Center for aircraft arriving at the Stapleton International Airport from September 12-29. CTAS Descent clearances were given to a NASA flight test aircraft and to 77 airline flights that arrived during low traffic periods. For the airline portion of the field test, cockpit procedures and pilot briefing packages for both FMS equipped and unequipped aircraft were developed in cooperation with an airline. The procedures developed for the FMS equipped aircraft were to fly a VNAV descent at a controller specified speed to cross a metering fix at a specified altitude and speed. For nonFMS aircraft, the clearance also specified a CTAS calculated top-of-descent point. Some CTAS related flight deck issues included how much time was available to the pilots' for compliance, the amount of information that needed to be interpreted in the clearance and possible repercussions of misunderstandings. Data collected during the study ranged from subjective data (including the airline pilots' opinions and comments about the new descent clearances and procedures) to objective data (including observations of aircraft performance from the flight deck). This paper will present data and the resulting changes in the design of the procedures and clearance phraseology.

Palmer, Everett↗

NASA NTRS2016

Designing Flightdeck Procedures

The primary goal of this document is to provide guidance on how to design, implement, and evaluate flight deck procedures. It provides a process for developing procedures that meet clear and specific requirements. This document provides a brief overview of: 1) the requirements for procedures, 2) a process for the design of procedures, and 3) a process for the design of checklists. The brief overview is followed by amplified procedures that follow the above steps and provide details for the proper design, implementation and evaluation of good flight deck procedures and checklists.

checklists↗

DOE OSTI2024

Low-Flow Marine Hydrokinetic Turbine for Small Autonomous Unmanned Mobile Recharge Stations

A prototype low-flow marine current turbine for deployment from a small unmanned mobile floating platform has been developed for autonomously seeking and harnessing tidal/coastal currents. The support platform is an unmanned surface vehicle (USV), in the form of a catamaran with two electric outboard motors and with capabilities for autonomous navigation. The USV utilized is a WAM-V 16 vehicle that has been developed separately with support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) [1]. The marine current turbine is based on a freestream waterwheel (FSWW), also known as an undershot waterwheel (FSWW), mounted on the stern of the USV. The concept of operation involves the USV autonomously navigating to a designated marine current resource. Upon arrival, the USV anchors itself, aligns with the current, and deploys the FSWW turbine using a custom cable-lift mechanism. The turbine harnesses the local current, and an onboard power-take-off (PTO) device converts the mechanical energy into electricity, which is stored in an onboard battery bank. When energy harvesting is completed, the turbine and the anchor are retrieved and the USV navigates to a selected location. These unmanned at-sea platforms can provide power to other unmanned maritime systems. Specifically, in this project, the power generated onboard can be used to charge aerial drones via a custom flight deck that has been developed for the USV. The recharging capabilities offered by a fleet of such strategically placed recharging stations can significantly benefit aerial drones operating in the maritime domain by eliminating the need to travel back and forth to land or ship based charging stations. The project has resulted in the development of subcomponents, including the FSWW turbine, a novel PTO, an automated anchoring system for the USV, an automated turbine deployment system, and a flight deck with capabilities onboard the USV for landing, direct-contact charging and takeoff of aerial drones. The design and development of these subsystems have culminated in the overall prototype marine hydrokinetic platform (MHK Platform, Fig. 1). Comprehensive lab and field testing have been conducted to validate the functionality and performance of the platform and its components. The project demonstrates the potential for autonomous, unmanned systems to harness renewable energy from marine currents, and provide sustainable power solutions for maritime applications such as coastal surveillance and environmental monitoring; shoreline mapping; search and rescue; oceanographic research; inspection and maintenance of offshore energy installations like wind turbines and oil rigs; oil spill response; maritime disaster response; and aerial surveys, as well as facilitation of data transfer drones and shore stations.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

NASA NTRS1991

Aviation safety and automation technology for subsonic transports

Discussed here are aviation safety human factors and air traffic control (ATC) automation research conducted at the NASA Ames Research Center. Research results are given in the areas of flight deck and ATC automations, displays and warning systems, crew coordination, and crew fatigue and jet lag. Accident investigation and an incident reporting system that is used to guide the human factors research is discussed. A design philosophy for human-centered automation is given, along with an evaluation of automation on advanced technology transports. Intelligent error tolerant systems such as electronic checklists are discussed along with design guidelines for reducing procedure errors. The data on evaluation of Crew Resource Management (CRM) training indicates highly significant positive changes in appropriate flight deck behavior and more effective use of available resources for crew members receiving the training.

Albers, James A.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Joint ASRS and NASA Callback on FANS-1 Datalink Operational Incidents

The recent certification and implementation of the Future Air Navigation System (FANS- 1) was based on the benefits of reduced separation minima, ability to optimize flight plans enroute, and the prompt transmission and reception of messages between oceanic controllers and 747-400 aircraft transiting the Pacific. In addition, FANS was intended to supersede High Frequency (HF) radio which has been the staple, yet problematic, long distance communication link for years. However, in the three initial years of operation, FANS has revealed its own unique operational issues. Although some technical and engineering problems have been studied and addressed, little research has been conducted on human factors issues associated with the use of FANS on the flight deck. This lack of prior data on the operational use of FANS prompted a joint NASA/Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) inquiry into FANS datalink. In addition, two foreign air carriers and their respective safety agencies were recruited to participate. This international FANS research effort consisting of three aviation safety agencies and three international commercial air-carriers has provided a unique opportunity for conducting human factors research in an operational environment. An ASRS 'callback' format was chosen for the study as a practical and viable method for capturing FANS events on the flight deck. Initially, 747-400 pilots were encouraged to submit reports to their respective safety agencies if they had experienced any positive or negative incidents with the use of FANS. Upon receipt of a report, it was evaluated and if deemed pertinent to the study, a telephone interview or 'callback' was conducted on the FANS incident to elicit further details, capture the key events, and gather contextual information. Once the operational data collection phase was completed, the reports and interviews were analyzed with two purposes in mind: primarily to identify and address problematic human factors issues with current FANS technology, and, secondarily, to provide 'lessons learned' for future datalink systems and implementation.

Moses, John↗

NASA NTRS2005

Analysis of Aircraft Clusters to Measure Sector-Independent Airspace Congestion

The Distributed Air/Ground Traffic Management (DAG-TM) concept of operations* permits appropriately equipped aircraft to conduct Free Maneuvering operations. These independent aircraft have the freedom to optimize their trajectories in real time according to user preferences; however, they also take on the responsibility to separate themselves from other aircraft while conforming to any local Traffic Flow Management (TFM) constraints imposed by the air traffic service provider (ATSP). Examples of local-TFM constraints include temporal constraints such as a required time of arrival (RTA), as well as spatial constraints such as regions of convective weather, special use airspace, and congested airspace. Under current operations, congested airspace typically refers to a sector(s) that cannot accept additional aircraft due to controller workload limitations; hence Dynamic Density (a metric that is indicative of controller workload) can be used to quantify airspace congestion. However, for Free Maneuvering operations under DAG-TM, an additional metric is needed to quantify the airspace congestion problem from the perspective of independent aircraft. Such a metric would enable the ATSP to prevent independent aircraft from entering any local areas of congestion in which the flight deck based systems and procedures may not be able to ensure separation. This new metric, called Gaggle Density, offers the ATSP a mode of control to regulate normal operations and to ensure safety and stability during rare-normal or off-normal situations (e.g., system failures). It may be difficult to certify Free Maneuvering systems for unrestricted operations, but it may be easier to certify systems and procedures for specified levels of Gaggle Density that could be monitored by the ATSP, and maintained through relatively minor flow-rate (RTA type) restrictions. Since flight deck based separation assurance is airspace independent, the challenge is to measure congestion independent of sector boundaries. Figure 1 , reproduced from Ref. 1, depicts an example traffic situation. When the situation is analyzed by sector boundaries (left side of figure), a Dynamic Density metric would identify excessive congestion in the central sector. When the same traffic situation is analyzed independent of sector boundaries (right side of figure), a Gaggle Density metric would identify congestion in two dynamically defined areas covering portions of several sectors. The first step towards measuring airspace-independent congestion is to identify aircraft clusters, i.e., groups of closely spaced aircraft. The objective of this work is to develop techniques to detect and classify clusters of aircraft.

Bilimoria, Karl D.↗