The Effects of Different Levels of Intent Information on Pilot Self-Separation Performance

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of shortand long-term levels of intent information on pilot’s ability to self-separate in an unrestricted free flight environment. Free flight emphasizes more flexibility for pilots and more pilot involvement in separation responsibility with a goal of greater fuel efficiency. This study was conducted in the NASA Ames Part-Task simulator, a two person fixed based simulator similar to the Boeing 747-400. This research builds on previous studies of pilot selfseparation and incorporates feedback from pilots requesting traffic information beyond velocity vector information on their cockpit display. Eighteen flight crews current on glass aircraft were presented with three different intent displays: Baseline (velocity vector information), short-term intent (Mode Control Panel, MCP), and long-term intent (Flight Management Computer, FMC). Additionally, each intent type was incorporated into a prototypic airborne conflict probe (Yang & Kuchar, 1998). For example, if the pilots were presented with FMC intent, the alerting logic would consider the intruder’s flight plan and vertical change points (e.g. top-of-descent) in order to determine threat status.