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Abstract

Aircraft automation, particularly the automation surrounding vertical navigation, has been cited as an area of training difficulty and a source of confusion during operation. A number of incidents have been attributed to a lack of crew understanding of what the automation is doing. This paper describes the translation of information from a formal methodology used in design of an automated vertical guidance system to a training package, and an experiment that tested the new training. This study is part of a larger project to improve the recognition and understanding of the “objectives and behaviors” of automated systems through a formal methodology. The formal method, referred to as the operational procedures methodology, integrates the design of the system with the design of the training and display information requirements for that system (Sherry, 1995). The study utilized a training package designed to teach the vertical guidance portion of the Flight Mode Annunciator (FMA), as seen in normal operations of the Boeing MD-11. The results of the study showed that this type of training can be successfully delivered via a computer based training device. Additionally, a study in a full cockpit simulator showed that the training, coupled with the new display, provided significantly less errors on a simulated flight, although the training alone did not provide significantly better performance.

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Evaluation of a Formal Methodology for Developing Aircraft Vertical Flight Guidance Training Material

Abstract

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References