Pilot's Visual Attention Allocation When Taking Risk in Flight Simulator

Abstract

Pilots play a key role in the flight deck and their visual attention allocations also strongly affect their flight risk-taking behaviors. This study aims to investigate the pilot’s patterns of visual attention allocation during an approach with low visibility. A total of 20 professional airline pilots were recruited to conduct an approaching task on a B737-800 flight simulator with high fidelity, and 19 of them provided valid data. We collected their eye movement data during the task. Meanwhile, according to their risk-taking behaviors (go around or land), they were divided into a safe group or risky group. Results showed that the distribution of visual attention was related to the pilot’s visual areas of interest (AOIs), but the risk-taking behaviors were not affected by the fixation parameters. Our findings provide empirical insights about pilots’ visual attention allocation during approach and suggestions for optimizing the design of the instrument in the cockpit.