Air traffic controllers’ visual scanning,aircraft selection,and comparison strategies in support of conflict detection

Abstract

When aircraft are not aligned into orderly streams, air traffic controllers (ATCs) will likely need to develop visual scanning strategies to enhance their conflict detection performance given their limited perceptual and cognitive resources. In this work, visual scanning, aircraft selection, and aircraft comparison are investigated. Twenty-five active professional ATCs detected conflicts in a simulated enroute environment. After the trials, the ATCs documented their visual search and conflict detection strategies. Analysis of the written information shows that the visual scanning methods can be classified into six categories (circular, linear, augmented, regional, density-based, and proximity-based). The aircraft selection methods fall into three categories (select aircraft that are at same altitude, at same altitude and converging, and at same altitude and in close proximity). The aircraft comparison methods fall into five categories (attend to altitude changes, speed (or speed differences), speed and angle/bearing, overtake, and projection). The proposed integrated process incorporates the categorizations by accommodating the visual scanning strategies into the overall process.