Pilot Performance and Workload Using Traffic Displays to Support Free Flight

Abstract

Arising from the need to employ innovative solutions to safely and efficiently maintain air traffic separation in increasingly denser skyways, the concept of Free Flight involves shifting some air traffic management responsibilities from air traffic control specialists on the ground, to pilots in the cockpit. Such a shift in traffic management responsibilities will be critically dependent upon the development of displays to provide traffic and hazard information to pilots in the cockpit (Wickens, Carbonari, Merwin, Morphew, & O'Brien (1997; Battiste (in progress); Johnson, Battiste, Delzell, Holland, Belcher, & Jordan, 1997). This research examined the effect of different information-varying display aids (predictors and threat vectors) for in-cockpit traffic displays, on pilot performance, workload, attentional demands, and flight safety. Fifteen pilots flew a series of traffic avoidance scenarios in a Free Flight simulation designed to assess the effects of different levels of traffic display information on these pilot variables. Three, 2D-coplanar prototype displays were compared which differed in the level of traffic information provided. Analysis of the data revealed that the traffic display with the most predictive information supported increased safety and decreased workload, without appreciable decrements in flight performance or efficiency.