The issue of ground/cockpit integration: results from field studies

Abstract

A pilot activity analysis has been performed to study the relation between the cognitive behaviour of an expert aircraft pilot and the worksystem. The cognitive demand of the pilot’s task is related to the level of automation (or mode) of the supporting tools. The mode choice stems both from a personal "flying style " and worksystem constraints. One of the most relevant constraints is the air traffic control operator’s requests. A study on air traffic control operator stress shows that this demand actually comes from flow management and is propagated from the ground to the cockpit. Thus, our research, based on natural setting observations, confirms that operators, and designers, from both ground and cockpit sides, should better cooperate and consider that there is one and only one worksystem