A Practice of Flight Deck Evaluation in Civil Aircraft

Abstract

The cockpit is the primary interface between man and aircraft. The cockpit equipment provides the capabilities of the aircraft in the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system and the cockpit equipment determines to a large extent the safety of flight operations. The increased utilization of automated systems, coupled with the increased workload of operating sophisticated aircraft in the modern international airspace system, has made the proper application of human-factors design principles more important than ever. The unique aspect of rule 25.1302 is that it considers the flight crew task as the guiding element for assuring safe operation of the aircraft. It applies to installed systems and equipment intended for flight crew members use in operating the airplane from their normally seated positions on the flight deck. The applicant must show that these systems and installed equipment, individually and in combination with other such systems and equipment, are designed so that qualified flight crew members trained in their use can safely perform all of the tasks associated with the systems’ and equipment’s intended functions. In this paper, a methodical was introduced for civil aircraft flight deck interface design evaluation, which include: Paper & pencil concept evaluation, Static design mock-up evaluation, Dynamic design mock-up, Design prototype, Prototype/final HW/SW evaluation, in-flight demonstration. The flight deck evaluation should be conducted by experienced and qualified pilots against the applicable regulations and guidance material on cockpit HMI interface. The flight deck complete design, validation and evaluation chain have been successfully used in single aisle civil aircraft flight deck design in China.