Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2023 Jan 1;94(1):18-24. doi: 10.3357/AMHP.6157.2023.
Unexpected events in flight might decrease the transparency of the flying process and weaken the pilot's perception of the current state, or even erode manipulating skills. However, during the flight test of a new or modified aircraft, to verify the boundaries of aircraft aerodynamic performance and handling stability, unexpected events may be encountered that need to be handled by the test pilot. Therefore, studying the differences between test pilots and airline pilots could help improve flight safety. Two kinds of physiological parameters, eye blink rate and average fixation duration and task-related performance of test pilots and airline pilots, were analyzed in three abnormal scenarios. A total of 16 pilots participated. The study was carried out in an A320 flight simulator. The differences were significant for both test pilots and airline pilots in eye blink rate and average fixation duration. Furthermore, the reaction time of test pilots (Mean = 23.38 s) was significantly shorter than airline pilots (Mean = 42.63 s) in Unreliable Airspeed condition, and the pitch angle deviations between them were significant in both Wind Shear and Unreliable Airspeed condition. The uncertainty of environmental change could create more severe pressure and mental workload influence than actual system failure. For airline pilots, compared with test pilots, the importance of practicing manual flight should still be emphasized. Improving reactions to unexpected ambient conditions and unannounced fault status could also contribute to flight safety.
飞行中的意外事件可能会降低飞行过程的透明度，削弱飞行员对当前状态的感知，甚至会侵蚀操纵技能。然而，在新型或改进型飞机的飞行测试中，为了验证飞机空气动力性能和操纵稳定性的极限，可能会遇到需要由试飞员处理的意外事件。因此，研究试飞员和航线飞行员之间的差异有助于提高飞行安全性。分析了三种异常情况下试飞员和航线飞行员的两种生理参数（眨眼率和平均注视持续时间）和与任务相关的表现。共有 16 名飞行员参与了这项研究。该研究在 A320 飞行模拟器中进行。对于试飞员和航线飞行员来说，眨眼率和平均注视持续时间的差异都非常显著。此外，在不可靠空速条件下，试飞员的反应时间（Mean = 23.38 s）明显短于航线飞行员（Mean = 42.63 s），而且在风切变和不可靠空速条件下，他们的俯仰角偏差也非常显著。环境变化的不确定性所造成的压力和心理负荷影响可能比实际系统故障更为严重。对于航线飞行员来说，与试飞员相比，仍然应该强调练习手动飞行的重要性。提高对意外环境条件和未宣布的故障状态的反应能力也有助于飞行安全。
