An Initial Survey of National Airspace System Auditory Alarm Issues in Terminal Air Traffic Control

Abstract

A researcher from the Research Development & Human Factors Laboratory of the William J. Hughes Technical Center conducted an exploratory study to examine current National Airspace System (NAS) auditory alarm issues. The purpose was to identify problem areas related to current auditory alarms and to collect opinions from the users on ways to improve auditory alarms in their work area. Based on availability, the participants were from the terminal (Air Traffic Control Tower and Terminal Radar Approach Control) area. Participants rated 15 potential auditory alarm issues on a scale from 0 to 10 on how problematic each issue was in their work area. Based on the comments participants provided, some of the problems that they reported with auditory alarms could be traced to a few specific systems. Other problems were more general in nature, including alarms being too numerous in the work environment. They also reported problems with too many false alarms. Although this study was not meant to be all encompassing, it provides an initial look at the auditory alarm issues within the current NAS environment.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA417202

Entities

People

  • Vicki Ahlstrom

Organizations

  • Federal Aviation Administration

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Traffic
  • Aircrafts
  • Applied Psychology
  • Auditory Signals
  • Background Noise
  • False Alarms
  • Frequency
  • Hearing Loss
  • Instrument Flight
  • Instrument Landings
  • International Airports
  • New York
  • Repetition Rate
  • Safety
  • Transportation
  • Voice Communications
  • Warning Systems

Readers

  • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Proposed Air Force Base Actions.
  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Radar Systems Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Space Objects