Flight-deck automation: promises and problems

Modern microprocessor technology and display systems make it entirely feasible to automate many of the flight-deck functions previously performed manually. There are many benefits to be derived from automation; the question today is not whether a function can be automated, but whether it should be, due to various human factors issues. It is highly questionable whether total system safety is always enhanced by allocating functions to automatic devices rather than human operators, and there is some reason to believe that flight-deck automation may have already passed its optimum point. This is an age-old question in the human factors profession, and there are few guidelines available to the system designer. This paper presents the state-of-the-art in human factors in flight-deck automation, identifies a number of critical problem areas, and offers broad design guidelines. Some automation-related aircraft accidents and incidents are discussed as examples of human factors problems in automated flight.

[1]  Elwyn Edwards.  Some Aspects of Automation in Civil Transport Aircraft , 1976 .

[2]  Thomas B. Sheridan,et al.  Monitoring Behavior and Supervisory Control , 1976 .

[3]  B Shackel.  Ergonomics research needs in automation. , 1967, Ergonomics.

[4]  Gunnar Johannsen.  Preview of Man-Vehicle Control Session , 1976 .

[5]  James W. Danaher,et al.  Human Error in ATC System Operations , 1980 .

[6]  H. P. Ruffell Smith.  Some Human Factors of Aircraft Accidents Involving Collision with High Ground , 1968 .

[7]  J. L. Anast.  All-Weather Landing , 1959, IRE Transactions on Aeronautical and Navigational Electronics.

[8]  J M Rolfe.  Ergonomics and air safety. , 1972, Applied ergonomics.

[9]  Earl L. Wiener.  Controlled Flight into Terrain Accidents: System-Induced Errors , 1977 .

[10]  H W Sinaiko.  Human intervention and full automation in control systems. , 1972, Applied ergonomics.

[11]  J. M. Naish,et al.  Human Factors in the All-Weather Approach , 1969 .

[12]  Renwick Curry.  Human factors of descent energy management , 1979, 1979 18th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control including the Symposium on Adaptive Processes.

[13]  J. de Jong,et al.  The Human Operator in the Computer-Controlled Refinery , 1971 .

[14]  E Edwards.  Automation in civil transport aircraft. , 1977, Applied ergonomics.

[15]  Earl L. Wiener.  Midair Collisions: The Accidents, the Systems, and the Realpolitik , 1980 .

[16]  E J Lovesey.  The instrument explosion--a study of aircraft cockpit instruments. , 1977, Applied ergonomics.