Visual movement and mental-workload for pilot performance assessment

Abstract

Flight activities are highly dynamic operating processes. When pilots carry out missions, the information is primarily obtained through visual search. This study applied an eye-tracking system to collect empirical and objective data of 18 qualified and in-service F-16 flight aircraft pilots executing air-to-surface tasks. The results indicate that pilots with superior flight performance exhibited a longer fixation duration and more fixation counts with more stable scanpaths and a shorter distance compared with those with inferior performance when executing air-to-surface tasks. Additionally, pilots process messages through a top-down and bottom-up composite pattern during executing tasks. Regardless of the flight experience and performance, the pilots’ pupil size exhibited an identical tendency of variation. We suggest adding the eye-tracking system to the flight-simulator platform and providing immediate feedback to pilots and the pilot’s attention allocation and cognitive abilities should be considered in training courses to enhance flight safety and improve training performance.