Airspace Environment Research Articles

Developing Safety Indicators for New Zealand Airspace: Analysis of Loss-of-Separation Incidents

The New Zealand (NZ) government actively sets safety targets for its airspace, and the level of safety traditionally has been measured by accident rates. However, numerous problems have arisen from the use of this indicator. With the Heinrich pyramid of common causation of accidents and incidents, focus has turned to the use of incident data—particularly loss-of-separation (LoS) incidents between aircraft in airspace—for safety indicators. This paper uses LoS data from New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom to develop safety indicators specific to a particular airspace. A survey of previous research on factors affecting LoS incidents led to the selection of seven variables: airspace environment, altitude, traffic profile of the pair of aircraft in conflict, presence of one aircraft in altitude transition, geometrical configuration, causal agent (i.e., last human instigator of the incident), and degree of severity or risk of collision (i.e., level of risk reached during the LoS incident). A high-le...

Recognition of bacterial endotoxin in the lungs.

The early recognition of bacterial products is critical for our survival. Each day we breathe more than 7,000 liters of air, laden with inorganic and organic particles and an array of microbes. During sleep, we aspirate oropharyngeal secretions containing gram-positive and gram-negative organisms and their products. Patients in the hospital have altered flora in their oropharyngeal and gastric secretions, and some are exposed to therapeutic aerosols carrying environmental microbes. Yet normal humans rarely develop pulmonary infections and most hospitalized patients do not develop nosocomial pneumonia because highly effective host defenses have evolved to protect the lungs from these ubiquitous microbial challenges. The initial defense of the lungs against the entry of particulates involves the mucociliary system, which lines the nasopharynx and conducting airways, and macrophages that wander the airways and alveolar surface. The mucociliary system removes particulates deposited in the conducting airways, but bacteria and their products that reach the alveolar membrane fall beyond the mucociliary system and are recognized by macrophages, the sentinel cells of the innate immune system in the lungs. Innate immunity provides a means to constantly sample the air-space environment and maintain vigilance for microbial products that reach the alveolar membrane (1).

Modelling extra aircraft fuel consumption in an en‐route airspace environment

This paper presents a model to quantify and minimise extra fuel consumed by aircraft flying at levels which are suboptimal in terms of fuel consumption due to relatively crowded airways. It is based on a dynamic queueing system model. In analysing the sensitivity of the parameters influencing the consumption of extra fuel, the model allows for changes in the geometry of the airspace (the length and number of flight levels), the characteristics of the traffic (the intensity of the arriving traffic flow on the airway, the number, size and structure of various classes of aircraft requesting altitude changes (and the separation rules applied by Air Traffic Control in serving aircraft requesting altitude changes.

Resource Management in the Highly Automated Airspace System

The introduction of highly sophisticated, glass cockpit aircraft has profoundly affected the flightdeck environment, and has changed the nature of crew resource management (CRM). CRM and decision making in advanced aircraft are qualitatively different from the same processes in older fleets. Automation also alters the nature of interaction among crewmembers, and between crewmembers and Air Traffic Control (ATC) These differences would seem to necessitate special training and procedures for CRM in glass cockpits. Moreover, training for managing automation cannot be merely an added module in current CRM programs. The effects of automation pervade throughout all aspects of resource management. Coincidentally, advances in the air traffic control system are altering the modern airspace environment. In the not-too-distant future, it will be possible for ATC computers to generate or amend clearances, which the Air Traffic Manager will send to the aircraft via datalink. The aircraft FMS (flight management system) will determine whether or not the clearance may be accepted, and its effects on fuel consumption, arrival time, etc. The role of the pilot will be to accept or reject the suggested clearance. The effects of automation on operator and team processes in both of these domains, as well as on the interaction between the domains, has only begun to be defined. Some of the issues already raised in the flightdeck realm, such as diffusion of responsibility among crewmembers, the breakdown of traditional roles and responsibilities as a result of familiarity with automation, or the possibility that crewmembers will “communicate” more with the automation than with each other, may only be exacerbated by increased automation in the air-ground communication link. The goal of this panel is to present an overview of some of the issues and questions to be resolved if resource management is to be a vital construct in the highly automated airspace system. To open discussion, the first panel member will present an overview of the general issues involved in the confluence of CRM and automation. Following, an industry representative will discuss one airline's specialized program to introduce crewmembers to the glass cockpit, and guide them in the appropriate use of automation. The measurement of CRM components specifically related to crew interaction with automation will be the focus of the third panelist. The analysis of CRM issues associated with equipment design, and, in particular, with the introduction of datalink communication systems, will be the next panel topic. Lastly, possible implications for human operators of the increasing sophistication and decision-making capabilities of automated systems in the air and on the ground will be introduced. The panel chair will summarize the major points and propose questions for discussion.