An analysis and evaluation procedure in civil aircraft flight deck design

Abstract

As we all know, flight crew error in system design and certification have great related to the flight safety. Human error is affected by a number of factors, including system design, training, operations, and pilots’ previous experiences. Human error is difficult to predict, and it cannot be prevented entirely; even experienced, well-trained pilots using well-designed systems will commit errors. Understanding of the causes of pilot error can minimize the likelihood of these occurrences and be used to create more error-resistant and error-tolerant systems. In this paper, an analysis and evaluation procedure based on human cognitive information processing model was introduced for civil aircraft flight deck interface design. In this procedure model, information including display, alerting, tactile etc. have been considered as input in the Perception stage. Controls including push button, switch, lever etc. have been considered as output in the Response Execution stage. Two kinds of subject evaluation method were introduced. One is paper-pencil evaluation using modified Cooper-Harper Rating scale based on flight deck interface and description, the other method is flight deck walk through evaluation based on the typical scenario tasks. When the system interface or operation procedure, which have potential hazard of crew error have been identified, the error prevention or error tolerant features will be considered in detail in the flight deck interface design according to the error classification. Error management concept has been introduced to the flight deck human factor requirements development. Effective error management means that the system design facilitates error detection and recovery and/or ensures that the effects of errors on how the system functions are obvious. Information to help the flight crew detect errors consists of indications provided during normal operations. Indications alerting to a specific error or system condition, or indications of external hazards or operational conditions. These analysis and evaluation procedures have been used in single aisle civil aircraft flight deck design in China.