United States Department of Transportation
i
An Investigation of Flight Deck Data Link in the Terminal Area
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2013-07-29
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[PDF-2.73 MB]
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Abstract:This study investigated the strengths and weaknesses of manual entry as compared to loadable entry of uplinked clearances into the B-777 FMS. The Honeywell team hypothesized that each method would yield unique advantages and disadvantages. To investigate the limitations and capabilities of loadable versus manual entry of uplink clearances, we investigated a mix of Air Traffic Control (ATC) messages. The message set included a mix of single uplink messages, concatenated, and conditional messages in different categories including: altitude, speed, route, required time of arrival (RTA), and ATC reports. The study team observed and recorded flight crew-system behavior in the areas of automation surprises, pilot transaction times with data link, flight crew error and error recovery, flight crew coordination using the GOLD flight crew procedures, workload, and flight crew comments. FINDINGS: Mean flight crew response time: The mean response time for all ATC uplinks was 36.7 seconds across all conditions (without outliers). When outliers were included in the analysis, the mean response times was 44.5 seconds. 83% of the responses were under one minute, while 100% percent of the response times were under two minutes. These times are comparable to response times reported in other studies. RECOMMENDATIONS: The report includes recommendations for improvements to the flight deck human-machine interface and flight crew operating procedures and air traffic procedures. Considerations for data communications operational approvals and aircraft certification were described, as well as recommendations for future human factors research to address challenges with the implementation of data communications on the flight deck.
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