Controller-to-Controller Communication and Coordination Taxonomy (C4T)

Details

• Creators:
  Peterson, Linda ; Bailey, Larry ; Willems, Ben
• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation. Civil Aerospace Medical Institute ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. William J. Hughes Technical Center
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation. Office of Aerospace Medicine
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Air Route Traffic Control Centers Air Traffic Air Traffic Control Air Traffic Control Facilities Communication Communication Systems Controlled Vocabulary Cooperation Taxonomy
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FAA/AM-01/19
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.21949/1404178
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation. Office of Aerospace Medicine
• Abstract:
  While previous research in the air traffic control (ATC) communications area has generally concentrated on controller-pilot communications, this program of research focuses on controller-to-controller communications. At the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), teams of two controllers, R-side and D-side, are required to communicate on a continuing basis to coordinate the duties of their sector. As modernization of the ATC system progresses, questions arise concerning the effects these changes will have on intra-enroute sector team (EST) communications. In anticipation of technology changes, the Federal Aviation Administration commissioned a series of studies investigating intra-EST communication. This initial study details the design and subsequent field testing of the Controller-to-Controller Communication and Coordination Taxonomy (C4 T). The taxonomy is designed to capture the following general communication categories: Topic, Format (grammatical form), and Expression. The final taxonomy resulting from this research contains 12 ATC topics (i.e., Traffic, Altitude, etc.). Communication Grammatical Format contained 5 subcategories: Question, Answer, Statement, Command, and Command Answer. Communication Expression consisted of 3 subcategories: Verbal, Nonverbal or a combination of Verbal and Nonverbal, referred to as Both. A field study at an ARTCC was conducted with subject-matter experts coding intra-EST communications using the taxonomy described. Field observations were made at 18 different sectors between the hours of 07:00 and 019:00 based on moderate to high traffic levels. Descriptive statistics detail the results of the taxonomy’s use in a field setting. Testing and further refinement of the taxonomy allows its use in both field and controlled experimental settings, provides a tool for training individuals to code C4 T communications, and enables the establishment of a C4 T baseline to investigate changes in communication patterns as modernization continues in the enroute ATC environment.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e4a5528229e444bdde0c2bbca038b56439698e98c4fe69e3aede54e67741f6c48822f242b55fd7de0a99d12852c7ca111e84ff22cff42d2356810691154fc80e
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/85845/dot_85845_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 407.91 KB ]