Abstract
Among flight crew errors, 54% occurred in the taxiing phase, especially near intersections in low visibility situations. This paper examines pilots' scanning behavior when executing different turning maneuvers at airport intersections both on clear days and in low visibility situations. The Beijing International Airport was reconstructed in an Airbus 320 simulator. Eight male pilots participated in this study. The pilots were required to take full manual control from the last approach point and to taxi according to the predetermined flight plan. The pilots' fixation rate, average fixation duration, and dwell time percentage in each area of interest (AOI) were analyzed during the turning maneuvers near four examined intersections. The results showed that the dwell time percentages in the electronic centralized aircraft monitoring (ECAM) area when executing right turn maneuvers were significantly higher than those when executing left turn maneuvers on clear days. In low visibility situations, the percentages of dwell time in the right view out of the window (OTWR) area when executing right turn maneuvers were significantly higher than those when executing left turn maneuvers. To examine if the scanning behavior reported in this study is safe or not, the pilots' responses to potentially dangerous situations should be further studied.
Highlights
According to an in-depth study on 415 commercial aviation accidents that occurred between 2010 and 2014, flight crew errors were found to be involved in nearly one-third of these accidents [1]–[3]
Statistical significance was found in the fixation rate in OTWR in the clear day situation (p =0.043)
For the low visibility situation, no significant differences were found among the four intersection maneuvers that were examined
Summary
According to an in-depth study on 415 commercial aviation accidents that occurred between 2010 and 2014, flight crew errors were found to be involved in nearly one-third of these accidents [1]–[3]. 54% occurred in the taxiing phase [4], [5] and accidents may happen during the taxiing phase [6], [7]. Runway incursion is the leading cause of major accidents that occurred at the Linate Airport in 2001 (118 casualties), Omsk in 1984 (178 casualties), and Tenerifein in 1977 (583 casualties) [8]. The taxiing phase is a complex multitask process. Pilots have to monitor the environment both inside and outside of the cockpit, communicate with the air traffic controllers, and maintain taxiing speed and direction. The high workload of pilots during the taxiing phase increases the probability of operational errors and accidents [5].
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