Flight Deck Perspectives on the Complexity of Navigating in the Airport Terminal Area

Abstract:
In this talk, findings will be reviewed from a body of research we did to examine flight deck perspectives on the complexity of navigating in the airport terminal area, with an emphasis on operations that rely upon performance-based navigation (PBN). Arrival, departure, and approach paths designed to use PBN offer safety enhancements along with new levels of flexibility to negotiate terrain, airspace, and environmental considerations.

The initial goal of this research was to study the design, depiction, usability, and fly-ability of these paths and their associated aeronautical charts. Over time, the focus shifted towards how well these paths work in actual operations because there are several different sources of complexity that impact pilot tasks as they fly these routes. This research was funded by the FAA NextGen Human Factors Division (ANG-C1).