Date of Award
Summer 2024
Access Type
Dissertation - Open Access
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Aviation
Department
College of Aviation
Committee Chair
Andrew R. Dattel
First Committee Member
David L. Thirtyacre
Second Committee Member
John V. Sabel
Third Committee Member
Erik R. Baker
College Dean
Alan J. Stolzer
Abstract
Through the year 2022, runway-related events, including excursions, abnormal runway contact, and runway undershoot and overshoot, were the third leading causes of fatal aircraft accidents. Principal to these runway-related accidents was the presence of an unstable approach. Pilots currently must depend on the timely recall of stable approach criteria stored in long-term memory, application of those criteria against current flight conditions, perception and cognition of deviation from those criteria, and determination of potential courses of action. Such recall is fallible, and challenges to perception and cognition are ever-present.
This study examined whether the presentation of stable approach criteria boundaries and alerting displays, in isolation and in combination, affected pilot situation awareness as to the presence of an unstable approach. Six hypotheses were presented to evaluate the influence of the two display enhancements on participant response accuracy to situation awareness queries. The data were obtained through experimentation using volunteer participants drawn from university flight training programs, FAA-approved training centers, corporate flight operations, and air carriers.
A 2x2 factorial design was used, with two levels of boundaries, absent or present, and two levels of an alert message, absent or present. This yielded one baseline and three enhanced treatments. A series of 12 video vignettes presented the participant unstable events in the context of completing an Instrument Landing System approach. Data on the dependent variable were gathered using recorded think-aloud protocols to measure response accuracy to unstable conditions. A two-way, within-group, repeated-measures Analysis of Variance was used to test whether the situation awareness of a pilot differed based on specific display treatments applied. The results indicated a statistically significant difference for the main effects of boundaries and the alert. However, statistical significance was not present for the interaction between the two treatments. Missed events, false alarms, and experience level of the participant were also examined.
The study results suggested benefit is derived from providing pilots display enhancements that highlight the presence of an unstable approach condition. These enhancements are worthy of consideration for incorporation into existing primary flight displays currently used in the aviation community. Further research benefit would be derived from examining unstable approach situation awareness when tested within flight simulation devices of greater fidelity and under unusual environmental- and system-related scenarios.
Scholarly Commons Citation
Hunter, David J., "Situation Awareness Assessment of Enhanced Stable Approach Flight Instrument Displays" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses. 833.
https://commons.erau.edu/edt/833
