Pilots' scanning behavior between different airport intersection maneuvers in a simulated taxiing task

Abstract

Among flight crew errors, 54% occurred in the taxiing phase, especially near intersections in low visibility situations. This paper examines pilots' scanning behavior when executing different turning maneuvers at airport intersections both on clear days and in low visibility situations. The Beijing International Airport was reconstructed in an Airbus 320 simulator. Eight male pilots participated in this study. The pilots were required to take full manual control from the last approach point and to taxi according to the predetermined flight plan. The pilots' fixation rate, average fixation duration, and dwell time percentage in each area of interest (AOI) were analyzed during the turning maneuvers near four examined intersections. The results showed that the dwell time percentages in the electronic centralized aircraft monitoring (ECAM) area when executing right turn maneuvers were significantly higher than those when executing left turn maneuvers on clear days. In low visibility situations, the percentages of dwell time in the right view out of the window (OTWR) area when executing right turn maneuvers were significantly higher than those when executing left turn maneuvers. To examine if the scanning behavior reported in this study is safe or not, the pilots' responses to potentially dangerous situations should be further studied.