The Aspect of Aviation Automation - Term Paper Example

Aviation Automation Name Institutional Affiliation Outline Aviation Automation I. Introduction. A. Automation in aviation industry has greatly changed the methods and outcomes of the complex operations in aviation industry. B. How aviation industry has been automated. II. Automation in aviation has undergone several stages since the first aircrafts invention by the Wright brothers. A. First level of automation. B. Second level of automation. C. Third level of automation. D. Fourth level of automation. III. Automation has resulted in increased safety in the aviation industry in many ways. A. Increased situational awareness. B. Effective communication and coordination between pilots and air traffic management services. C. Technological advancement for Safe landing in areas with poor visibility. D. Flight deck systems that help pilots avoid safety problems that have been experienced in the past. E. Investigative technology that determine the causes of complex accidents. IV. Despite all the safety benefits in the aviation industry, automation has also caused accidents in cases where the human cannot control. A. Pilot losing control over automated controls. B. Poor estimations resulting in accidents. C. Pilot misusing the automated controls. D. Entry of wrong commands by the flight crew. V. Various technological developments have helped in simplifying the aviation tasks. A. Although, there are many, challenges hindering automation processes, the automation still continues to see more developments and more plans are underway. Abstract The processes and operations in the aviation industry that were previously complex have seen several technological developments that has made them easier and efficient. The automation developments in aviation are more of a revolution than evolution. It all started from mechanical control of an aircraft, progressed to the integration of electronics and then presently the inclusion of software in controlling and guiding airplanes. These technological and historical developments in aviation have led to more efficient handling of processes in the entire aviation industry. The outcome of all these efforts is noticed in the improved and simplified operations and reduced cases of accidents. The most important aspect of automation in this paper is safety enhancement as described in detail. Aviation Automation Automation in aviation industry has greatly changed the methods and outcomes of the complex operations in aviation industry. Safe landing of an aircraft is a result of organizational efforts that are required in the process of copping with the complex system made up of humans, environment and technology. Automation can be describes as the use of computers in controlling a process to increase both reliability and efficiency. In the aviation industry, automation is characterized by an integrated application of computers in flights and air traffic control operations. Automation has proved to improve effective completion of tasks in all these processes. Automation in flight operations include the use of autopilots, auto-throttles, automation in flight management systems, and pilot computer interface. Automation in air traffic control includes Next Generation air transport system, NextGen network enabled weather, system wide information management, and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast,. However, it has affected employees (operators) by shifting their roles in and operation from being performers to onlookers. With these changes in the industry, there has been a raised concern on whether automation in aviation industry is indeed advantageous or disadvantageous. Automation in aviation has undergone several stages since the invention of first airplanes were by the Wright brothers (Tompson, 2003). The Wright Brothers controlled their airplane through mechanical connections between the moving parts of the aircraft and cockpit controls. This connection had a system of cables and pulleys that connected the yolk and rudder pedals to the three primary control surfaces (ailerons, rudder and elevator). Basic piston engines with fixed pitch propellers required only a mechanical throttle and carburetor heat controls. In general, automation in aviation started with systems that were aimed at stabilizing an aircraft’s altitude manipulating flight control surfaces mechanically. Presently, automation in aviation has arrived in the fourth step. The first step involved the pilot directly in the processes of manipulating the flight controls and to direct the aircraft. This process can be described by three levels: pilot, primary control of aircraft, and the response of the aircraft. Cockpit automation started with an autopilot to manipulate flight control. This step separates the pilot from direct control of an aircraft. The pilot assigns altitude and heading tasks to the autopilot. This assignment of tasks introduces another level in the automation process and the levels now become four: pilot, autopilot, primary airplane control, and airplane response. The second automation level introduced controllers. The controllers were used to feed the autopilot with information. The controllers may use altitude, navigation or rate of descent information to relay instructions to the autopilot. Such instructions include flying along a given course, turning to and maintaining a given heading and others. At this level there are two automation layers that separate the pilot from direct control of the aircraft. The pilot has the responsibility of programming and monitoring the controllers to ensure that they send the intended commands to the autopilot as well as monitoring the autopilot for effective execution of these commands. This second level of automation therefore has five levels: pilot, controllers, autopilot, primary airplane controllers, and airplane response. The third level included the flight management computer. At this level, a computer is programed by the pilot to instruct controllers, transmit instructions to the autopilot and fly the aircraft. The pilot is kept out of direct control by three automation layers. Therefore, this automation level has six levels including: pilot, FMC, the controllers, the autopilot, primary airplane controls and the response of the airplane. The fourth step of automation is characterized by the integration of the flight management computer with other aircraft systems including fuel and environmental control. For example, when an aircraft reaches a cruising altitude, a signal from the FMC turns on the cockpit humidifier. The cockpit humidifier is turned off by the same signal 2 hours before the descent point. Here, the flight management computer, the autopilot, the controllers and other systems have much control authority that requires the pilot to be highly knowledgeable and vigilant. This step has six levels which include: the pilot, FMC, controllers, the autopilot, primary airplane controls, and the airplane response. The future development in aviation automation is projected towards allowing ground air-traffic controllers to suggest or even make entries into the Flight management computer on board the aircraft. Automation has resulted in increased safety in the aviation industry in many ways. Firstly, aviation automation has increased situational awareness during a flight (US Department of Transportation, 2009). This enables the pilots to have ability of knowing the status of an airplane in real time. The pilots find it easier to determine whether the systems are operating as expected. Automation increases safety by making reaction time to inflight changes more accurate and quicker because the pilot is more aware of the equipment status. Also, automation has given the plots more freedom to crosscheck and also creating time for other airplane functions leading to efficiency, hence increased safety. Lastly, increased awareness increases the capacity of a pilot to do more work during the flight and also prevents the pilot from making small errors. Automation in aviation industry has also led to effective communication and coordination between pilots and air traffic services. Automation in air traffic management services has reduced vulnerabilities that result from ineffective communication between pilots and air traffic services (Van de Merwe et al., 2012). Amended clearance from air traffic when issued properly leads to decreased flight-crew workload, minimal pilot errors when using the flight path management systems (Albers, 1991). All this has increased safety in aviation industry by ensuring that the pilot, flight crew an air traffic services obtain the necessary information within time limits necessary to control the flights. Automatic landing systems marks the technological advancements geared towards safety enhancement when airplanes land in areas or conditions of very low visibility. The autopilot accurately keeps the airplane on the correct approach path while landing. The system has a roll-out guidance that keeps the airplane aligned to the centerline of the runway after touching down as it breaks down. In case of a fault or disagreement between the systems, a reported is made and the approach is aborted by the pilot. Likewise, some systems such as Instrument landing system (ILS) used in Amsterdam Schiphol provides the pilot with a very accurate view of both the vertical and horizontal position of the airplane relative to the ideal approach path to a runway. Flight deck systems have also played a great role in increasing safety in the aviation industry. The systems are designed to assist the pilots avoid safety problems that have been occurring in the past years. These flight deck systems include predictive wind-shear equipment and controlled-flight-into-terrain (CFIT). The predictive wind-shear equipment is incorporated with improved wind-shear-training programs for pilots. The system has reduced greatly accidents related to wind-shear. On the other hand, the controlled-flight into-terrain acts as equipment for looking ahead. It serves as a terrain avoidance system and has helped the pilots to reduce accidents related to the terrain. Lastly, the airplanes have been fitted with investigative technology that has gained fame in its ability to determine complex accidents causes. The recorders of flight data have the ability to record 57 different measurements for an airplane during a flight. In addition to the flight data recorders, sensors are fitted on the components that the pilot needs to monitor and are used to detect system failures or malfunctioning. Safeguards are also incorporated in these sensing systems to ensure that the information relayed is used effectively to minimize the chances of accidents hence increased safety. Despite all these safety benefits in the aviation industry, automation has also caused accidents in cases where the human cannot control. For example, the Boeing 747 was low on fuel when it was approaching London’s Heathrow airport runway. This landing had to be hurried. Hurrying the landing made the radio beams to be captured late. This led to limited authority for the controllers resulting in difficulties to stabilize the airplane. A subsequent investigation into the accident gave an insight that the airplane was far from the course to the right. Automation can also result in poor estimations that might result in accidents. An example may include the incidence that occurred when a Boeing 727 experienced low-visibility as it approached Denver. As the airplane was approaching the airport, the autopilot correctly followed the ILS signals. However, random signal were emitted in the last 200 feet, making the airplane to pitch down suddenly. The captain did not succeed to take over the air plane controls. Later investigations revealed that the window was abruptly filled with lights implying that the airplane had assumed a very low altitude required for landing. Low visibility, high rate of descent, and the surprise made it difficult for the captain to regain and take over the airplane’s control. The situation resulted in the airplane touching down so hard veering out of the runway and getting the fuselage damaged irreversibly. This case is an example of operations that are beyond human capabilities where the captain is forced and held liable even if regaining control of the airplane is imposible. Similarly, accidents might result from the misuse of automation. For example, in 1991 an accident occurred involving an air plane that was flying at a cruise altitude. The co-pilot of the airplane tried to play with the Flight management system so as to learn hands-on while the other pilot was out of the pilot cabin. The co-pilot decided to deselect a few radio-aids from the route that was planned. After removing the tenth radio-aid, the aircraft was de-pressurized and the pilot was forced to perform an emergency descent. Accidents in automated aviation can also result from wrong commands from the flight crew (Wickens, 1997 and Larkins, 2010). For example, the Boeing 757 was being flown by autopilot as it was approaching Cali, Colombia through a narrow valley. The autopilot at this moment was receiving several controller inputs selected and programmed for navigational guidance by the flight management computer. The flight’s clearance was changed by air-traffic controller at a point 40 nm from the airport by use of Rozo One Arrival. An attempt made by the captain to incorporate Rozo NDB into the flight management computer did not succeed due to the use of wrong identifier by the captain. The Flight management computer accepted the identifier and commenced a 90° turn heading to the wrong non directional beacon. This resulted in a crush as the airplane hit a mountain ridge at 8,900 feet. In conclusion, automation in the aviation industry has undergone developments that are marked by various technological developments aimed at simplifying the aviation tasks. At early stages, the airplanes are controlled by manual means and this has presently changed to software aided controls. These automation developments have marked the effectiveness in air transport that has resulted in improved safety. The incidents of airplane accidents that were more often in the past have drastically reduced due to the integrated use of computers and human in the control of airplanes. There are several advantages of aviation automation including operational costs reduction and improved safety. However, automation in aviation has also some disadvantages such as accidents that arise in cases where the pilot is unable to regain control over automatic processes such as auto-controllers and autopilot. Majority of these accidents have been revealed to result from human-computer control errors or being unable to control certain emergence situations. Although, there are many, challenges hindering automation processes, the automation still continues to see more developments and more plans are underway. References Albers, J. A. (1991). Aviation safety and automation technology for subsonic transports. California: DIANE Publishing. Larkins, A. (2010). The future of air traffic control safety. Mobility Forum: The Journal of the Air Mobility Command's Magazine, 19(3), 4-8. Tompson, S. (2003). Wings: A History of Aviation, from Kites to the Space Age (Book). Library Journal, 128(20), 160. US Department of Transportation. (2009). Pilot’s handbook of aeronautical knowledge. government printing office. Retrieved from . Van de Merwe, K., Oprins, E., Eriksson, F., & van der Plaat, A. (2012). The Influence of Automation Support on Performance, Workload, and Situation Awareness of Air Traffic Controllers. International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 22(2), 120-143. doi:10.1080/10508414.2012.663241 Wickens, C. D. (1997). The future of air traffic control: Human operators and automation. Washington, D.C: National Academy Press. Read More