A compliance method for the design and airworthiness certification of civil aircraft flight deck human factor

Abstract

Detailed analyses of past incidents and accidents have shown that the majority of them are related to crew performance failures in the form of a series of errors, sometimes in combination with system failure, which led to severe safety consequences. Therefore, CS25.1302/FAR 25.1302 were issued in order to develop effective strategies for reducing flight crew error. But the methods of evaluating human error provided by the regulation are far less straightforward, and there are no absolute norms available to identify how good the human-system performance is. This paper sets an integrated compliance method for the design progress and certification of Human factor of civil aircraft flight deck. In order to provide the pilots with more concise HMI and more friendly POP in the Human-centered cockpit, specialized attention should be paid on the human error risks related to the system integration level, complexity and novelty. Consideration on the Intended Function and Associated Flight Crew Tasks, Controls, Presentation of Information, System Behavior, Flight Crew Error Management were deeply discussed here in Validation and Verification of civil aircraft flight deck functions were adopted within the design process based on the System Engineering approach. Recommendation on the means of compliance including statements of similarity, design description, calculations/analysis, evaluations and test were provided in terms of flight crew tasks. Researches and practice on the static evaluation, documental evaluation, sub-task evaluation as well as full-task evaluation were carried on in order to minimize the occurrence of human errors and the management of their effects. Documented matrix of MoC and a list of simulator/real aircraft test scenarios were planned for the verification of typical human errors relevant to flight deck performance. The method is verified in the design progress of a china-designed type to produce a successful program.