Success and Failure at Self-Separation in Simulated Free Flight

Abstract

Pilots in free flight will assume responsibility for self-separation. This paper discusses research that identifies constraints on a pilot's ability to maintain self-separation in a free-flight. It documents a principled approach to scoring the concurrent verbal reports of pilots engaged in simulated en-route traffic scenarios. One such protocol is used to identify a mismatch between the tacit criteria for self-separation invoked by professional airline pilots and the separation criterion currently mandated by the FAA: five miles laterally and 1,000 feet vertically.