Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) is a
major departure from traditional ground-based air
traffic control and will markedly improve air traffic
safety and efficiency, as well as facilitate modernization
of the National Airspace System. A prototype
CDTI was installed on 12 aircraft (8 Boeing 727's and
4 DC-9's) belonging to the member airlines of the
Cargo Airline Association. This initial CDTI (figure 1)
displays proximate aircraft relative to their own-ship,
assisting flight crews in sighting and identifying traffic
"out the window." NASA provided a human factors
evaluation of the CDTI to demonstrate whether it
would be safe and effective for these initial visual
applications, and to provide preliminary results
supporting future CDTI applications involving aircraft
that are sharing separation responsibility.
Flight scenarios were developed to evaluate flight
crew workload, situational awareness, and effectiveness
of the CDTI as an aid to visual acquisition and
visual approaches. Additional scenarios were developed
to demonstrate aircraft station-keeping capabilities
assisted by the CDTI. A data collection program
was developed and implemented, including the
recruiting and training of NASA observers for each
flight, and developing protocols for collecting data
from the flight deck during the flight scenarios, and
for debriefing the flight crews afterward. The evaluation
focused on examining the CDTI's effects on flight
crew workload and attention, and how normal
cockpit procedures were affected by its use.
The planned flight scenarios were flown at
Airborne Airpark in Wilmington, Ohio, on July 10,
1999. Results from the evaluation indicate that the
CDTI provides significant benefits in flight crew
situational awareness, that it aids visual acquisition of
traffic, and that it enhances visual approaches. Flight
crews found the CDTI easy to use, and they were
very positive regarding CDTI as an aid to visually
acquiring traffic and determining how close to follow
when making a visual approach to a runway. They
thought the CDTI helped them maintain awareness of
several targets and to reacquire previously sighted
traffic, both common requirements in busy terminal
airspace. Analysis of the aircraft track data also
indicates that the CDTI enhances approach efficiency,
although there is much variability in those
data, a direct result of the real flight environment.
Flight crews were able to manage the station-keeping
task satisfactorily.
The results of this investigation are being used to
support further development of the CDTI and its
eventual installation in many more aircraft. Additionally,
evaluation of this prototype is contributing to
future CDTI designs and their applications toward
free-flight for all aircraft. This has significant implications
for future aviation capacity and safety enhancements,
and supports the Aerospace Technologies
Enterprise goal of tripling throughput while maintaining
safety in the National Airspace System.
Point of Contact: R. Ashford
(650) 604-0914
rashford@mail.arc.nasa.gov
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