While aviation is arguably a very safe form of transportation, each
year many lives are lost and much property is destroyed in aircraft accidents.
Since 60% to 70% of aircraft accidents are attributed partly to pilot error,
our aviation safety research and development efforts have focused on understanding,
reducing, and mitigating the effects of pilot error.
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Flight Deck Automation Issues
Advanced autopilots, flight management systems, and electronic flight instrument
systems have been added to commercial transport flight decks in large part
to reduce pilot workload and errors. But critics have argued that just
the opposite has occurred. We collaborated with Research Integrations,
Inc. and Honeywell, Inc. under a grant from the US Federal Aviation Administration
to develop a comprehensive list of flight deck automation issues and compile
data and other objective evidence related to those issues. See http://flightdeck.ie.orst.edu/. |
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Cockpit Task Management
The cockpit (or flight deck) is a multitask environment where many tasks
can compete for the pilot's attention simultaneously. Pilots must assess,
prioritize, and selectively attend to tasks because they cannot perform
them all at once. Usually pilots manage tasks well, but distractions or
interruptions can occur at critical times, divert pilot attention away
from important tasks, and sometimes lead to catastrophic results. Under
grants from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, we have
been studying how pilots manage (and mismanage) tasks and developing methods
to help pilots manage tasks better. See http://flightdeck.ie.orst.edu/CTM/. |
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The Electronic Checklist
The design of cockpit (or flight deck) equipment that maximizes pilot performance
and minimizes pilot error requires the application of a disciplined human-machine
systems engineering process. In Winter 2000, a group of OSU students demonstrated
this process in the development of a handheld electronic checklist for
general aviation aircraft. They conducted system, mission, function, and
task analyses to define checklist requirements, designed the device, developed
a working virtual prototype, and, with the help of local pilots, evaluated
it in a part-task simulator. See http://www.engr.orst.edu/~HFE/Checklist/. |
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Avionics |
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Aircraft Systems |
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Certification Job Aid
US airworthiness standards as set forth in Federal Aviation Regulations
are clear with respect to aircraft structures, propulsion systems, and
other "hardware", but standards relating to pilot performance are often
ambiguous, difficult to design to, and difficult to evaluate in a proposed
design. We are working under subcontract to Research Integrations, Inc.
on an FAA-sponsored project to develop a computer-based tool for aircraft
manufacturers and FAA certification personnel. This Job Aid will help them
identify and properly address human factors issues early enough in the
design and certification processes to avoid costly certification delays.
See http://flightdeck.ie.orst.edu/certification.html. |
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For More Information
Ken Funk
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
118 Covell Hall
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-2407
1-541-737-2357 (voice)
1-541-737-5241 (FAX)
<funkk@engr.orst.edu>
http://www.engr.orst.edu/~funkk/
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11 December 2000
