Effect of Pathway-In-The-Sky and Synthetic Terrain Imagery on Situation Awareness in A Simulated Low-level Ingress Scenario

Abstract

Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accidents continue to be a major source of loss of aircraft and aircrew in both military and civil aviation (Cooper, 1995; Miller, Price, and Darrah, 1987; Proctor, 1997). These accidents usually occur in reduced-visibility conditions, and with no prior awareness of impending collision on the part of the flight crew (Scott, 1996). While warning and automated collision avoidance systems have reduced the rate of CFIT accidents, these systems focus on symptoms rather than underlying causes. Often, a pilot's first response to a Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) alert is an attempt to verify the accuracy of the alert rather than taking immediate corrective action (Corwin, 1995). Data from the Air Force Safety Center indicate that CFIT accidents occur in a wide variety of missions and aircraft. In the last ten years, CFIT accidents have cost the Air Force 98 aircraft, 190 lives, and $1.68 billion (Moroze and Snow, 1999). Also, despite inclusion of GPWS, losses due to CFIT accidents show little sign of decreasing (see Figure 1).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA430687

Entities

People

  • John M. Reising
  • Michael P. Snow

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accidents
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Altimeters
  • Altitude
  • Collision Avoidance
  • Collision Avoidance Systems
  • Databases
  • Elevation
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Flight Crews
  • Ground Proximity Warning Systems
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Measurement
  • Psychology
  • Situational Awareness
  • Warning Systems

Readers

  • Aviation Science / Aeronautics.
  • Economics
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.