Decision making in air traffic control units and team performance in emergency scenarios

The present national Air Traffic Control system is a ground-centralized, man intensive system which through design allows relatively little meaningful pilot participation in decision making. The negative impact of this existing design can be measured in delays, dollars and lives. The FAA's design plans for the future ATC system will result in an even more intensive ground-centralized system with even further reduction of pilot decision making participation. In addition, controllers will also be removed from on-line decision making through anticipated automation of some or all of this critical function. Recent congressional hearings indicate that neither pilots nor controllers are happy or sanguine regarding the FAA's design for the future ATC system.

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An Automated Conflict-alert Function for an Air Traffic Control System

Journal of Navigation ◽

10.1017/s0373463300040893 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 475-481

Author(s):

P. Bertolazzi ◽

M. Lucertini

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Control System ◽

Traffic Control ◽

Air Traffic Control ◽

Air Traffic ◽

False Alarms ◽

Major Purpose ◽

Number Of False Alarms ◽

Traffic Control System

The major purpose of an air traffic control system is to ensure the separation of two or more aircraft flying in the same airspace, with an efficiency that can be expressed in terms of capacity and cost. As air traffic grows in numbers it becomes necessary to reduce the workload of the controllers by relieving them of many monitoring tasks, and eventually some decision-making tasks, through computerized automation. In this context many developments tend to build up an efficient conflict-alert subsystem.The problem of conflict-alert in the air needs strategic tools, to make collision unlikely or even impossible, and tactical tools to detect impending collisions. The latter detect potentially hazardous aircraft encounters and alert the controller in time to warn the pilots (if necessary) and should obviously provide this capability with a minimal number of false alarms and no increase in workload.

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An Empirical Study on System Dynamics Model for Sustainable Development of Air Traffic Control Units

Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S ◽

10.2478/eces-2021-0009 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 101-116

Author(s):

Fang Chen ◽

Xi Chen ◽

Xinjian Zhang

Keyword(s):

System Dynamics ◽

Traffic Control ◽

Air Traffic Control ◽

Supply And Demand ◽

Air Traffic ◽

System Dynamics Model ◽

Dynamics Model ◽

Leverage Point ◽

Dynamic Factors ◽

Control Units

Abstract With the rapid growth of flight volume, the contradiction between insufficient support capability of air traffic control (ATC) units and large demand for development ultimately hinders their sustainable and safe development. The article aims at the leverage point of the contradiction between supply and demand so as to provide scientific safety policies. Based on the system archetype “growth and underinvestment”, from the perspective of the feedback relationships between support capability, safety, and development, the causality of the dynamic factors of control, communication, navigation, and surveillance, as well as meteorology and information subsystems was studied. Then, a system dynamics model for the sustainable and safe development of ATC units was established. Taking the Tianjin ATC sub-bureau as an example, policy suggestions for sustainable and safe development were put forward according to the scenario simulation results.

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