Influence of a Perspective Cockpit Traffic Display Format on Pilot Avoidance Maneuvers

Laboratory experiments have examined perspective projections of Cockpit Displays of Traffic Information (CDTI) on CRTs as a means of presenting vertical separation information to airline pilots. Ten airline pilots served as subjects in an experiment comparing the perspective projection with plan-view projections of the same air traffic situations. Comparison of the patterns of pilots' avoidance maneuvers made when using the perspective traffic display with those made while using more conventional plan-view displays has shown that pilots maneuvered somewhat earlier with perspective displays. And when they did, they maneuvered more frequently in the vertical dimension. Thus, the previously observed bias to maneuver horizontally is probably not based on the “procedural reasons” often given. It probably refects the poorer presentation of vertical separation on previously used traffic displays.