Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Research Articles

Researches on Simulation and Validation of Airborne Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System

In this paper, enhanced ground proximity warning simulation and validation system is designed and implemented. First, based on square grid and sub-grid structure, the global digital terrain database is designed and constructed. Terrain data searching is implemented through querying the latitude and longitude bands and separated zones of global terrain database with the current aircraft position. A combination of dynamic scheduling and hierarchical scheduling is adopted to schedule the terrain data, and the terrain data can be read and delete dynamically in the memory. Secondly, according to the scope, distance, approach speed information etc. to the dangerous terrain in front, and using security profiles calculating method, collision threat detection is executed in real-time, and provides caution and warning alarm. According to this scheme, the implementation of the enhanced ground proximity warning simulation system is realized. Simulations are carried out to verify a good real-time in terrain display and alarm trigger, and the results show simulation system is realized correctly, reasonably and stable.

Ecological Approach to Support Pilot Terrain Awareness After Total Engine Failure

Terrain awareness enhancing avionics, such as Synthetic Vision Systems and the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, have been developed to reduce the number of controlled flight into terrain accidents. The protection these systems offer, however, is far from optimal. Synthetic Vision Systems only provide pilots with perceptual data, and leave all cognition and interpretation of data to the pilot. With Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems the opposite is true. Here, pilots are only confronted with compelling advisories and commands without the underlying data and rationale. This paper presents a display system, the Emergency Landing Guidance System, that visualizes the functional of surrounding terrain, adopting an ecological interface design approach. The potential benefits of this approach are demonstrated with the case of locating and approaching a suitable landing area after sudden complete engine failure. To evaluate the effect of the new display on pilot terrain awareness, an experiment was conducted in a fixed-base flight simulator. Results show that the new display supports pilot terrain awareness much better than present terrain avoidance systems, i.e., pilots better understand the meaning of the terrain in relation to their goals and constraints. However, pilots also operated more closely to the limits of performance, thereby negatively affecting the metrics for safety.

Ecological Interface Design for Terrain Awareness

Advanced terrain warning systems, such as the enhanced ground proximity warning system, and safety-enhancing displays, like the synthetic vision system, have proven to play an important role in reducing the number of controlled flight into terrain accidents. Research indicated, however, that terrain collisions may still occur for aircraft equipped with these systems. Synthetic vision allows for perception of the environment, but lacks properties to support understanding and extrapolation of the perceived data. A terrain warning system provides elementary meaning to the environment, but is not well integrated into synthetic vision displays. To further increase terrain awareness and, ultimately, eliminate terrain collisions, synthetic vision should be integrated with a terrain awareness functionality that allows the pilot to be continuously informed about how the external constraints (imposed by the terrain) relate to the internal aircraft constraints (e.g., climb performances). Based on that information, pilots can judge for themselves what an obstacle actually means to them in terms of possibilities to fly over it, and if not, what the alternatives for action are. In this article, the paradigm of ecological interface design is used to analyze the aircraft manual control task in the vertical plane and to develop a more meaningful interface for (vertical) terrain awareness. An abstraction hierarchy is presented, developed for the task of guiding an aircraft through a terrain-challenged environment. The design and experimental evaluation of a vertical situation display are discussed, enhanced with ecological overlays to increase terrain awareness.

Examination of Part 135 Controlled Flight into Terrain Accidents as a Basis for Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems

In 1998 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed the installation of Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning devices (EGPWS) in all turbine powered aircraft with six or more passenger seats, operating under Federal Aviation Regulation Part 135, to reduce “Controlled Flight Into Terrain” (CFIT). CFIT accident experience of Part 135 operations has not been evaluated by the FAA. We analyzed all commuter and charter aircraft crashes of this type using NTSB aviation accident data from 1983 to 1998. There were 15 crashes with CFIT criteria. We asked 15 experienced pilots to examine the narratives of the crashes and to estimate the probability that EGPWS would have allowed the crew to avoid these crashes. Based on the ratings, the median probability that Part 135 crashes would be avoided using EGPWS is 58%. Human factors issues associated with EGPWS are discussed.

Controlled Flight Into Terrain and the enhanced Ground Proximity Warning system

The leading cause of worldwide aviation fatalities comes from inadvertently flying a perfectly operating aircraft into the ground or water. This type of accident is referred to as Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT). Statistics show that introduction of the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) into the scheduled air carrier turbojet fleet has been accompanied by a dramatic drop in the frequency of CFIT accidents. Training aids, videos, checklists, and procedural recommendations have also been produced to aid in CFIT risk reduction. Despite these actions, CFIT worldwide losses continue. Common characteristics of these continued accidents are a lack of installed GPWS or shortcomings of the current GPWS detection algorithms. The Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems have been developed to address these shortcomings, and to provide enhanced situational awareness to the pilots such that CFIT accidents can become a thing of the past.

Transportation [Technology 1998 analysis and forecast

The safety debate has taken a new twist in both the aviation and the rail industries. High-profile aviation disasters and freight train wrecks have prompted demands for another great leap forward in safety. In both industries, new technology is playing a key role. And in the automotive field, public health will be the ultimate beneficiary if electric or hybrid electric vehicles start coming into wider use now that manufacturers have announced significant improvements in range. An enhanced ground proximity warning system for aviation, automatic train control, development of high speed trains, and electric vehicles powered by batteries and fuel cells, are discussed.