Designing External Aids that Support Older Pilot Performance

Abstract

Communication taxes pilots' cognitive resources. External aids such as note-taking help pilots manage these demands. Morrow et al. (2003) found that note-taking eliminated age differences among pilots on a readback task compared to a no-aid condition. However, we investigated communication-only rather than multi-task environments typical of piloting. The present study compared note-taking ( kneepad) with an electronic notepad positioned next to the instrument panel in a flight simulator ( epad). The epad may be easier to coordinate with concurrent tasks because it is more integrated with flight instruments. Six older and six younger pilots used these aids to respond to ATC messages in a flight simulator. Readback accuracy was higher when pilots used either aid compared to a no-aid condition. The pattern of results suggested a smaller age difference in the aid than in the no-aid conditions. The results replicate the earlier finding of note-taking benefits and extend them to the novel epad.