Penguins, Birds, and Pilot Knowledge: Can an Overlooked Attribute of Human Cognition Explain Our Most Puzzling Aircraft Accidents?

Objective We extend the theory of conceptual categories to flight safety events, to understand variations in pilot event knowledge. Background Experienced, highly trained pilots sometimes fail to recognize events, resulting in procedures not being followed, damaging safety. Recognition is supported by typical, representative members of a concept. Variations in typicality (“gradients”) could explain variations in pilot knowledge, and hence recognition. The role of simulations and everyday flight operations in the acquisition of useful, flexible concepts is poorly understood. We illustrate uses of the theory in understanding the industry-wide problem of nontypical events. Method One hundred and eighteen airline pilots responded to scenario descriptions, rating them for typicality and indicating the source of their knowledge about each scenario. Results Significant variations in typicality in flight safety event concepts were found, along with key gradients that may influence pilot behavior. Some concepts were linked to knowledge gained in simulator encounters, while others were linked to real flight experience. Conclusion Explicit training of safety event concepts may be an important adjunct to what pilots may variably glean from simulator or operational flying experiences, and may result in more flexible recognition and improved response. Application Regulators, manufacturers, and training providers can apply these principles to develop new approaches to pilot training that better prepare pilots for event diversity.

Decoding pilot behavior consciousness of EEG, ECG, eye movements via an SVM machine learning model

To decode the pilot’s behavioral awareness, an experiment is designed to use an aircraft simulator obtaining the pilot’s physiological behavior data. Existing pilot behavior studies such as behavior modeling methods based on domain experts and behavior modeling methods based on knowledge discovery do not proceed from the characteristics of the pilots themselves. The experiment starts directly from the multimodal physiological characteristics to explore pilots’ behavior. Electroencephalography, electrocardiogram, and eye movement were recorded simultaneously. Extracted multimodal features of ground missions, air missions, and cruise mission were trained to generate support vector machine behavior model based on supervised learning. The results showed that different behaviors affects different multiple rhythm features, which are power spectra of the [Formula: see text] waves of EEG, standard deviation of normal to normal, root mean square of standard deviation and average gaze duration. The different physiological characteristics of the pilots could also be distinguished using an SVM model. Therefore, the multimodal physiological data can contribute to future research on the behavior activities of pilots. The result can be used to design and improve pilot training programs and automation interfaces.

Approximation of pilot operational behavior affecting noise footprint in steep approaches

Landing aircraft create noise that disturbs residents living close to airports. One method to reduce such noise is to fly the final approach at a steeper glide slope than the normal 3.0 glide slope, thus increasing the distance between the source of the noise and the ground. If this is performed, there is a risk that the operational behavior of the pilot counteracts the noise reduction possible to achieve, due to the fact that the pilot must manage the aircraft's speed on a steeper glide slope. For practical reasons, there are few live trials and studies on pilot behavior during steeper approaches. In this project, a method to approximate pilot operational behavior during slightly steeper approaches, using flight data recorder data from standard approaches, was developed. The method exploits the fact that flying an approach in tailwind conditions creates the same operational challenges for a pilot as flying a steeper than normal approach does. The method was applied to 1159 flights. The results indicate that the pilots' operational behavior will change when glide slope angle increases. Extension of final flap and landing gear in steeper approaches will take place at a greater height but closer to the airport than for standard 3.0 ILS approaches. The result can be a reduction of the noise from arriving aircraft by up to 2 dB in some areas beneath the approach path if a 3.5 glide slope angle is used.