Researchers at Georgia Tech are studying whether an enhanced cockpit display of traffic information can be integrated into current air operations. (photo provided by Georgia Tech)
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To improve safety and achieve smoother-running operations of air traffic management, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are studying an enhanced cockpit display system called Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI). It is designed to allow pilots to see other aircraft in the area and quickly realize the distances between craft. According to Georgia Tech, there has been some reluctance to fully implement such a system in a commercial aircraft. Only low-end versions of this type of system have been installed in aircraft, primarily to enable pilots to react more quickly in performing collision-avoidance maneuvers.
"There is a reluctance to implement CDTI because of the procedural changes it would require for both air traffic controllers and pilots," said Dr. Amy Pritchett, an Assistant Professor at the Georgia Tech School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. "But CDTI would allow controllers to give higher types of commands and communicate more directly with the pilots. For example, instead of just telling pilots what speed to fly, the controller can also tell them what aircraft they will be following during landing and how far behind them they need to be. This can give pilots more involvement in air traffic management."
However, there is a fine line between providing pilots the right information and overwhelming them with too much. Therefore the institute has been conducting studies funded by NASA's Ames Research Center in California to establish standards for enhanced cockpit displays.
Pritchett's research group modeled and numerically simulated several different air traffic control procedures that would use CDTI. It also conducted flight simulator experiments with 12 commercial airline pilots examining different CDTI implementations. The group is now in the process of analyzing the data that will be used to provide a final report to NASA.
Modeling and simulation studies have led the group to hypothesize that pilots using CDTI must be able to assess easily speeds of surrounding aircraft to safely and efficiently respond to an air traffic controller's higher-level commands (e.g., "stay 10 mi behind the lead aircraft"). Therefore researchers have tested this hypothesis with flight simulator experiments involving pilots who range in experience from co-pilots on 727s to captains on the newest aircraft types. Pilots flew seven 15-20 min runs, simulating their arrival at any of four fictitious major metropolitan airports. During the runs, pilots viewed one of three different types of CDTI displays offering varying amounts of information.
"Pilots had some concerns, depending on how good the display was," Pritchett said. "They liked more detailed information, but with the display presenting the most information, the pilots were concerned that it might be too much. All the pilots were intrigued by CDTI, but they still wanted air traffic controllers to be involved - not to watch them, but to watch what the other guy is doing."
The latter concern resulted, in part, from the pilots' seventh runs, in which researchers simulated an abnormal event as two streams of air traffic merged and approached the airport. The "controller" asked the pilot to remain 4 mi behind the lead aircraft. Meanwhile the lead aircraft slowed 50 kts more than it should have. "In the display without the information on the other aircraft's speed, it was hard for the pilots to react to this situation," said Pritchett. "But they reacted quickly when they had this information."
Pritchett hopes that the results will assist the FAA in its decision on when and whether to fully implement CDTI in commercial aircraft.
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Aerospace Engineering September 2000
