Thea L. Feyereisen

Cockpit Displays and Annunciation to Help Reduce the Loss of Control (LOC) or Lack of Control (LAC) Accident Risks

This paper describes some practical cockpit aural annunciation and visual display concepts that have been developed to help reduce the risk of Loss of Control (LOC) and / or Lack of Control (LAC) by bringing awareness of the possible development of unusual attitude or stall conditions to the pilots. An additional objective was to provide sufficient information to aid in the recovery from the loss of control. The approach taken by the team in developing any solution was to minimize the impact on the cockpit both from the pilot understanding and training as well as the overall cost to implement into the avionics suite. Using this approach, our team developed several potential solutions. One of our solutions was to add a corrective roll arrow to the attitude indicator when an excessive bank angle is detected. A proposed preventative measure is integration of Synthetic Vision System into the head down primary flight display. Additional solutions utilized aural annunciations to alert the pilot to inappropriate flap settings and low airspeed conditions.

Smartview Lower Minimums: A Synthetic Vision Guidance System

SmartView™ Lower Minimums (SVLM) is a Synthetic Vision Guidance System (SVGS) that has been developed as a Flight Path Vector (FPV) Primary Flight Display (PFD) with additional pilot in the loop control display elements and system integrity monitors. SVLM is based upon previously certified Primus Epic® avionics architecture with a software update to an existing Primus Epic SmartView certified display. The flight instrument design enables any typically trained pilot to fly a more tightly controlled approach easily and routinely, achieving a sustained level of performance for the entire instrument approach procedure. SVLM is intended to enable lower than standard approach minimums at Category (CAT) I and CAT II airfields with a CAT I trained crew. Flight technical, system performance and human factors evaluations of SVLM were conducted using Honeywells Falcon 900EX EASy II test aircraft. All approaches flown by the participant pilots in the F900 fell well within desired CAT II performance standards. Subjective workload ratings from the flight test indicate acceptable workload level and the post-evaluation questionnaire administered at the conclusion of all test runs indicated a very favorable response to the SVLM guidance display and operational concept. SVLM flight guidance and display system enables pilots to accurately fly Localizer Performance with Vertical (LPV) and Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach and landings in a low visibility environment to Decision Altitude (DA) or Height (H) of 150ft and 100ft with the PFD head down SVLM display and transition to the visual segment for a safe landing in low visibility conditions with minimal training and reduced ground infrastructure. SVLM is compatible with US NextGen and European SESAR initiatives to increase accessibility and throughput at airports.

Integration of weather information into the dispatcher pre-flight route selection process

This paper describes a field study of the procedures and weather information sources used by a major airlines dispatchers in the pre-flight route selection process in the presence of significant weather. Additionally, this paper will describe how the AWIN decision-support tool, an aide for selecting optimal four-dimensional routes that avoid weather hazards, could be incorporated into the flight dispatch process to produce safer, more fuel-efficient routes that avoid hazardous weather. The challenges lie in effectively integrating route and weather information in the same application to facilitate decision-making, and to standardize the definitions of what weather is to be avoided and the thresholds of severity across an airlines dispatchers. The current work processes of a major airlines dispatchers were studied via a combination of observational field studies, interviews, written questionnaires, and surveys. With such a system in place, airlines can expect gains in safety, in fuel efficiency of planned routes, and in time efficiency in the preflight dispatch process.