Ahlstrom Ulf, Ohneiser Oliver, Caddigan Eamon
Federal Aviation Administration, Atlantic City International Airport, New Jersey
German Aerospace Center, Braunschweig, Germany.
Hum Factors. 2016 Sep;58(6):864-85. doi: 10.1177/0018720816641783. Epub 2016 Apr 20.
The objective of this study was to examine the potential benefits and impact on pilot behavior from the use of portable weather applications.
Seventy general aviation (GA) pilots participated in the study. Each pilot was randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group and flew a simulated single-engine GA aircraft, initially under visual meteorological conditions (VMC). The experimental group was equipped with a portable weather application during flight. We recorded measures for weather situation awareness (WSA), decision making, cognitive engagement, and distance from the aircraft to hazardous weather.
We found positive effects from the use of the portable weather application, with an increased WSA for the experimental group, which resulted in credibly larger route deviations and credibly greater distances to hazardous weather (≥30 dBZ cells) compared with the control group. Nevertheless, both groups flew less than 20 statute miles from hazardous weather cells, thus failing to follow current weather-avoidance guidelines. We also found a credibly higher cognitive engagement (prefrontal oxygenation levels) for the experimental group, possibly reflecting increased flight planning and decision making on the part of the pilots.
Overall, the study outcome supports our hypothesis that portable weather displays can be used without degrading pilot performance on safety-related flight tasks, actions, and decisions as measured within the constraints of the present study. However, it also shows that an increased WSA does not automatically translate to enhanced flight behavior.
The study outcome contributes to our knowledge of the effect of portable weather applications on pilot behavior and decision making.
本研究的目的是探讨使用便携式天气应用程序对飞行员行为的潜在益处和影响。
70名通用航空（GA）飞行员参与了该研究。每位飞行员被随机分配到实验组或对照组，并驾驶模拟单引擎GA飞机，最初在目视气象条件（VMC）下飞行。实验组在飞行过程中配备了便携式天气应用程序。我们记录了天气态势感知（WSA）、决策、认知参与度以及飞机与危险天气之间距离的测量数据。
我们发现使用便携式天气应用程序有积极效果，实验组的WSA有所提高，与对照组相比，这导致了可信的更大航线偏差以及与危险天气（≥30 dBZ区域）的可信更大距离。然而，两组飞机与危险天气区域的飞行距离均小于20法定英里，因此未遵循当前的天气规避指南。我们还发现实验组的认知参与度（前额叶氧合水平）可信地更高，这可能反映了飞行员在飞行计划和决策方面的增加。
总体而言，研究结果支持我们的假设，即在本研究的限制范围内，便携式天气显示可以在不降低飞行员在与安全相关的飞行任务、行动和决策方面表现的情况下使用。然而，研究还表明，WSA的提高并不会自动转化为飞行行为的改善。
研究结果有助于我们了解便携式天气应用程序对飞行员行为和决策的影响。
