Impact of Aviation Highway-in-the- Sky Displays on Pilot Situation Awareness

Abstract

Thirty-six pilots were tested in a flight simulator on their ability to intercept a pathway depicted on a highway-in-the-sky (HITS) display. While intercepting and flying the pathway, pilots were required to watch for traffic outside the cockpit. Additionally, pilots were tested on their awareness of speed, altitude, and heading during the flight. Results indicated strong practice effects for a pilot's ability to intercept the pathway and that the presence of a flight guidance cue significantly improved performance. The ability to spot traffic was more affected by task difficulty than by display appeal. New display concepts are needed for supporting secondary flight information present on the HITS display. Recommendations for training and use of HITS displays are given, along with recommendations for display enhancements to support situation awareness.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADA384535

Entities

People

  • Kevin W. Williams

Organizations

  • Federal Aviation Administration

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aircrafts
  • Airplanes
  • Altitude
  • Commercial Aircraft
  • Flight Crews
  • Flight Simulators
  • Global Positioning Systems
  • Human-Machine Interaction
  • Pilots
  • Psychology
  • Simulators
  • Situational Awareness
  • Three Dimensional
  • Training
  • Transportation
  • Two Dimensional

Readers

  • Aviation Safety and Air Traffic Management
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
  • Missile Defense Systems.