Accident statistics cite flight crew error in over 60% of accidents involving transport category aircraft. Yet, a well-trained and well-qualified pilot is acknowledged as the critical center point of aircraft systems safety and an integral safety component of the entire commercial aviation system. No data currently exists that quantifies the contribution of the flight crew in this role. Neither does data exist for how often the flight crew handles non-normal procedures or system failures on a daily basis in the National Airspace System. A pilot-in-the-loop high fidelity motion simulation study was conducted by the NASA Langley Research Center in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to evaluate the pilot's contribution to flight safety during normal flight and in response to aircraft system failures. Eighteen crews flew various normal and non-normal procedures over a two-day period and their actions were recorded in response to failures. To quantify the human's contribution, crew complement was used as the experiment independent variable in a between-subjects design. Pilot actions and performance when one of the flight crew was unavailable were also recorded for comparison against the nominal two-crew operations. This paper details diversion decisions, perceived safety of flight, workload, time to complete pertinent checklists, and approach and landing results while dealing with a complete loss of electrical generators. Loss of electrical power requires pilots to complete the flight without automation support of autopilots, flight directors, or auto throttles. For reduced crew complements, the additional workload and perceived safety of flight was considered unacceptable.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Quantifying Pilot Contribution to Flight Safety During Dual Generator Failure



    Conference:

    Annual Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC) 2017 ; 2017 ; St. Petersburg, FL, United States


    Publication date :

    2017-09-17


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    Quantifying pilot contribution to flight safety during dual generator failure

    Etherington, Timothy J. / Kramer, Lynda J. / Kennedy, Kellie D. et al. | IEEE | 2017


    Quantifying Pilot Contribution to Flight Safety during Hydraulic Systems Failure

    Kramer, Lynda J. / Etherington, Timothy J. / Bailey, Randall E. et al. | NTRS | 2017


    Quantifying Pilot Contribution to Flight Safety during Drive Shaft Failure

    Kramer, Lynda J. / Etherington, Tim / Last, Mary Carolyn et al. | NTRS | 2017


    Quantifying Pilot Contribution to Flight Safety During Hydraulic Systems Failure

    Kramer, Lynda J. / Etherington, Timothy J. / Bailey, Randall E. et al. | Springer Verlag | 2017


    Quantifying pilot contribution to flight safety during drive shaft failure

    Kramer, Lynda J. / Etherington, Timothy J. / Last, Mary Carolyn et al. | IEEE | 2017