An Investigation of Situation Awareness Using Aviation Incident Reports.
Abstract
This research was performed to determine the factors which affect the quality of situation awareness (SA) in civilian aircrew members. The recent popularity and increased investigation of SA has forced the research community to be very specific in modeling how it enhances decision-making in complex, dynamic environments. This research sought to better understand the effects of poor communication, high workload and time pressure on losses of SA for teams and individuals. Based upon Endsley's (1995a) model of SA and an analysis of aviation incident reports, it was found that 205 of the 590 incident reports investigated involved a loss in SA. This implies that SA is indeed a significant factor affecting aviation decision-making. Further, the results show that instances of poor communication and high workload occur in significantly higher proportions of team comprehension errors. These findings point to both the usefulness of Endsley's (1995a) model and the usefulness of using incident report data for the understanding of SA.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 18, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA326836
Entities
People
- Jason A. Gibson
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology