An analysis of pilot's physiological reactions in different flight phases

Abstract

Human errors have become the major threat to flight safety. Improper workload imposed on the pilot was supposed to be one of the most critical causes for human error. Among the various workload measure techniques, physiological measures were promising because of its objectivity and capability of continuous measure. However, the mechanisms of the physiological reactions were complex. The sensitivity and diagnosticity of the physiological parameters should be carefully discussed. This paper study several physiological reactions in a simulated flight task including blink, saccade, fixation, pupil diameter, heart rate, respiration etc. Statistical analysis was made to test the sensitivities of the physiological parameters and the diagnosticity of parameter was also discussed in the paper. These results could provide some guidance for the selection of the physiological parameters during the assessment of the pilot's workload. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.