SATS HVO procedures for priority landings and mixed VFR/IFR operations

This paper describes a pilot in the loop simulation experiment of the small aircraft transportation system (SATS) higher volume operations (HVO) concept for off-nominal conditions conducted at the Air Traffic Operations Lab (ATOL), NASA Langley Research Center. The experiment was designed to validate procedures for priority landing requests and pilot cancellations of approach requests with subsequent transitions to visual flight rules (VFR). Priority landing requests during approach operations allow pilots to land ahead of others in the sequence. Cancellations of approach requests allow participating aircraft to cancel an approach sequence and transition to VFR if desired. Preliminary results show that pilots find the procedures acceptable with no increase in perceived workload as compared to nominal SATS HVO operations while pilot performance and situation awareness metrics are consistently high. Overall, subject pilots welcome the increased potential efficiency the concept offers and the increased ability to self-control while flying SATS HVO procedures.