The Evolution of Technological Assistance that Pilots Avail of During Flights - Term Paper Example

Flight deck Management A study of the evolution of technological assistance that pilots avail of during flights Introduction It is more than a hundred years now that the first heavier-than-air powered aircraft flight by the Wright brothers in 1903 took off for its first flight. Many of the early aviation researchers of the time period believed that the challenging uncertainty of atmospheric conditions required the creation of an inherently stable aircraft that would respond to a human operators navigational commands, but fly automatically otherwise. But Wright brothers, maybe due to their background as bicycle mechanics, thought of the pilot of the aircraft as a skilled active controller of an unstable vehicle. Their overriding emphasis on personal skill of the pilot rather than dependence on sophisticated gadgets (which, though absolutely necessary, were surely not the ultimate deciding factor as regards how smoothly the airplane is flown) possibly made them the first aviation instructors and were most certainly the first aviation psychologists the world has ever seen. (Tsang and Vidulich 2003) However, the pristine simplicity of the early flights is no longer there with commercial flights routinely lasting many hours and connecting cities separated by thousands of miles over entire oceans. Till 1960s additional information were provided to the pilots through single-purpose instruments but the multiplicity of such meters and dials exerted a serious visual scanning and cognitive integration load on the pilot which increased proportionately as the complexity and size of aircrafts increased almost exponentially. Very soon a point was reached when number of pointers, numeral counters and flags could no longer be increased or their display characteristics improved. The situation was saved by the introduction of cathode ray tube (CRT) displays where different displays appeared on the same CRT at different times thus not only making the cockpit less cluttered but also significantly alleviating the stress of the pilots. CRT was very soon followed by Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) that provided crisper displays that were comparatively softer on the eyes as compared with CRTs. However much more has changed than just the display technology; the Boeing 777 computer systems incorporate more than 2.6 million lines of software code to support the autopilot, flight management, navigation, and maintenance functions. (Norris and Wagner 1996) Thus the modern pilot has to work more and more in conjunction with not only with other crew members, but also with advanced computerized technologies. Mental Workload and Situational Awareness of Pilots – How technology is helping them A very common area of concern among aviation experts is the excessive workload that might be imposed upon the pilot so much so that it might adversely affect the pilot’s efficiency while piloting the aircraft. This is of particular concern in cases of emergencies or when complex manoeuvres are required under trying conditions. Thus the main motive behind system redesigns and upgrades has primarily been directed towards reduction of stress and workload of pilots in their workplace. In this connection it may be mentioned that Honeywell Systems developed an automated system that identified the information needed by a pilot, in order to avoid presenting unneeded information and thereby avoid inflicting unnecessary mental workload. (Nordwall 1995) Situational awareness as a concept, however, is not directly related with the mental load inflicted on the pilot with the continuous onslaught of information relevant to the flight. Rather, situation awareness is more concerned with the quality of the information apprehended by the pilot given that at any moment a typical pilot is concerned with satisfying multiple goals of flight safety, navigation, communications and tactical plan. Of course, to do this it must be assumed that the pilot possesses sufficient skill to perform the required activities and, most importantly, the pilot must also have an “accurate picture” of the specific current situation. It is this mental picture that is generally referred to as situation awareness. There have been several technological upgrades to improve situational awareness of pilots and the immediate examples that can be referred are upgrades to the display systems of fighter pilot helmets (Kandebo 2000), the head-down displays in the U.S. Air Force F-117 fighter (Wall 2000), or, the displays of altitude information in commercial aircraft. (Mecham 1999) Automation and Human Performance in Aviation Introduction of advanced computers in airplane cockpits and to a certain extent in Air Traffic Control has ushered in massive automation in aviation that has decidedly increased efficiency and flexibility in airline operations. However, numerous incidents and new types of accidents over the years have raised safety concerns about cockpit automation, and, given the expected two fold increase in the volume of air traffic within a year or two, some experts have made a grim forecast that very shortly one major commercial airline accident may occur every week on average in some part of the world. (Jones and Endsley 2000) So, the need for better coordination between automated systems and human performance has become even more urgent to prevent loss of lives and property in wholly avoidable airline accidents. The latest technological outputs relating to flight deck management also seem to keep this issue in contention right from their designing stage. Some flight deck management systems that substantially increase coordination between human and automation in airplane cockpits Boeing had introduced in 2003 leading-edge display and flight- management software that promised to reduce flight delays and enhance flight-crew efficiency for its best selling airplane 737. The new technologies that Boeing was so proud of were Vertical Situation Display (VSD), Navigation Performance Scales (NPS) and Integrated Approach Navigation (IAN). While the VSD displayed the current and predicted flight path of the airplane and indicated potential conflicts with terrain, NPS allowed the airplane to navigate through a narrower flight path with higher accuracy thereby reducing flight delays and increasing airspace capacity. IAN on the other hand enhanced current airplane landing approach capability by simplifying pilot procedures and potentially reducing the number of approach procedures pilots had learned in training. These three features, quite predictably, created a wave of appreciation in aviation circles when they were first demonstrated by Boeing on its 737-900 Technology Demonstrator airplane. (Ahmad 2003) Within one year, Xybernaut Corporation (NASDAQ:XYBR) and Flight Deck Resources Inc. announced on 20th May, 2004 their partnership in manufacturing a single electronic flight deck management system (FDMS) for pilots in both commercial and department of defence (DOD) applications. They expressed their intention to market on a large scale Flight Deck SkyTab770 which is an 8.4 inch, 1.9 lbs.; portable, ultra-thin flight deck management system that had sure-grip rubber handles on both sides with a 1GHz Transmeta processor, Embedded Windows XP operating system, 256 MB RAM and easy access to a virtual keyboard and scroll buttons. These FDMS are capable of everything from displaying Chartrax or JeppView digital terminal procedures charts, company policies, aircraft manuals and pre-flight planning applications to exceedingly complex functions such as aircraft performance calculations, runway analysis in addition to real-time NEXRAD weather information. These highly efficient and state of the art machines provided airline crews with relevant airplane or flight information irrespective of whether they were within the cockpit, or by the side of the plane or even if they were in the airport terminal. Sure it was a quantum leap in the field of FDMS where previously unheard of mobility was introduced in the entire architecture. (Business Wire News Desk 2004) Within a span of one year, Boeing introduced Rockwell Collins next-generation avionics systems in its 787 Dreamliner range of products that had new capabilities to enhance safety, performance and growth to address future requirements, and offered operational commonality with other Boeing flight decks. Its integrated display system included five 15.1-inch diagonal LCD displays – four across the flight deck and one in the control stand for emulation of the Control Display Units (CDU) – as well as dual LCD head-up displays (HUD). The system used cursor control devices and a multi-function key pad for data entry and retrieval. As this new flight deck management system was unveiled, Rockwell Collins also announced their plans to gradually introduce a control stand that included auto throttles and pitch, roll, yaw and controls, as well as their interfaces to the aircrafts fly-by-wire systems. Rockwell Collins had also furnished the Boeing 787 Dreamliner with a newly developed Integrated Surveillance System (ISS) that had such functions as weather detection, traffic alert, collision avoidance and terrain awareness. Communication happens to be the to any form of flight deck management system and Boeing 787’s communication system includes Rockwell Collins VHF-2100, SAT-2100 and HFS 900D. The lighter weight, highly reliable, VHF-2100 is VDL Mode 2 capable with future growth to VDL 3 and 4. The new, smaller and more reliable, SAT-2100 supports the International Civil Aviation Organizations safety services, three channels of voice communications and offers growth to future Inmarsat Swift high speed data capabilities. There is also on board a state of the art digital flight deck audio system, and the cockpit voice and flight data recording system. (Business Wire News Desk 2005) Boeing had in the meanwhile also developed Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag which is nothing but a super sophisticated computer integrated into an airplanes avionics for improving the safety and efficiency of the aircraft. It actually serves as a critical communications gateway between the airplane in the sky and an airlines operations centre and maintenance department on the ground. The EFB has the capability to be an integral part of an information system that helps an airline gather and share data, information and knowledge across an entire enterprise and represents the core technology in Boeing’s vision of an e-Enabled air-transport system. (M2 Presswire News Desk 2006) Such is the efficiency of Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag that Japan Airlines International (JAL) that has 40 Boeing 777s in service and was monitoring the efficacy of EFBs fitted on two of its 777 airplanes since 2007, has decided to install EFB kits on all its thirty eight remaining 777 airplanes. The entire installation is scheduled to begin in April 2009 and be over by 2011. JAL, it seems has been able to fully grasp the benefit of the cutting edge technology that Boeing’s Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag represents. Mitsuo Koga, Vice President, Flight Operations Engineering, unhesitatingly accepted that EFB allows them to create a link between their airplanes and ground teams and helps them to be safer and more efficient in their operations. The combination of hardware, software, data and services to create an integrated package that saves money for customers by optimizing takeoff and flight settings, while providing increased safety, efficiency and the ability for airplanes and flight crews to communicate with airline maintenance teams, makes EBD an irresistible proposition to any flight crew and airlines company. (M2 Presswire News Desk 2008) Keeping in line with the basic requirement of equipping its planes with cutting edge technology for better flight deck management and increased safety and efficiency, Southwest Airlines has selected Boeing to modify its existing fleet of 737-300 airplanes with new and enhanced avionics supplied by GE Aviation, Honeywell and Rockwell Collins. These 737s will be fitted with GEs SDS-6000 large area displays thus making their flight deck look more similar to the newer 737-700s thus allowing the older 737s to operate in the same airspaces as the newer ones. Though not a scientific piece of information by any means, it might be of interest to some readers to know that GE Aviation was awarded a $40 million contract to provide these large area displays. Southwest is also embarking on a fleet wide adherence to Required Navigation Performance (RNP) operations, a navigation technology that enables an aircraft to operate within a tight corridor of airspace with Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance as it will help the airline to reduce fuel consumption, enhance safety and situational awareness, and minimize aircraft emissions and noise resulting in improved efficiency and reduced costs. The new SDS-6000 large area display suites together with the upgraded flight management system would allow the airline to make the most from its RNP operations. GE, in effect provides a complete solution that includes a complete integrated cockpit display, including primary flight displays, standby instrument and control panels. The primary flight displays feature a new 15.4" wide screen with innovative dual-channel display architecture. These displays possess integral signal and video processing and graphics generation, thus eliminating the need for a separate symbol generator. The integrated large area display suite and flight management system control the aircraft track to an accuracy of 10 meters and the time of arrival to within 10 seconds to any point in the flight plan and equip the aircraft with the ability to fly shorter flight paths and idle-thrust descents that reduce fuel consumption and consequent low emissions and community noise levels. (Air Safety Week 2009) Conclusion Flight deck management systems have come a long way from the age of Wright brothers and now form an integral part of any state of the art aircraft by providing an uninterrupted flow of relevant data to pilots to reduce their mental workload while simultaneously increasing their situational awareness to ensure a safer and smoother flight. References Ahmad, Baidura. "New flight-deck software from Boeing." Sunday Mail, February 16, 2003. Air Safety Week. "Southwest Airlines 737 Flight Deck Modernisation." Air safety Week, January 5, 2009. Business Wire News Desk. "Boeing 787 Flight Deck Reveals Rockwell Collins Next Generation Avionics Systems, Information Management and Pilot Controls." Buisness Wire, August 31, 2005. —. "Flight Deck Selects Xybernaut as Mobile/Wearable Computing Platform for Flight Deck Management System." Buisness Wire, May 20, 2004. Jones, D. G., and M. R. Endsley. "Examining the validity of real-time probes as a metric of situation awareness." Proceedings of the IEA 2000/HFES 2000 Congress. Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2000. Vol. 1, page 278. Kandebo, S. W. "Advanced helmet in U.S. tests." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 152(13), March 27, 2000: 56-57. M2 Presswire News Desk. "Air France places milestone order for Boeing Flight-Deck Technology." M2 Presswire, September 7, 2006. —. "Japan Airlines Expands Boeing Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag on 777 Fleet." M2 Presswire, June 4, 2008. Mecham, M. "Shuttle teams plan sustained upgrades." Avaition Week & Spave Technology, 151(7), August 16, 1999: 63-64. Nordwall, B. D. "Military cockpits keep autopilot interface simple." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 142 (6), February 6, 1995: 54-55. Norris, G., and M. Wagner. Boeing 777. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1996. Tsang, Pamela S., and Michael A. Vidulich. Principles and Practice of Aviation Psychology. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003. Wall, R. "Upgrades emerge to keep F-117 flying." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 153(21), November 20, 2000: 27-28. Read More