This paper focuses on the role which workload can play for work organisation in a future remote control tower center. Nowadays you can find a control tower next to each airport. A tower is equipped with a team of controllers which maintain the declared surface movement rate under all weather conditions within the aerodrome visibility operational level (AVOL) while maintaining the required level of safety. Novel concepts for air traffic control (ATC) consider remotely controlling regional airports from a control center that includes working positions for the control of multiple airports. When evaluating such controller working positions, workload is a crucial concept. A thorough analysis of workload in a remote tower domain is used in the paper at hand to draw conclusions for the work design of a remote control center. In a simulator study at the Institute of Flight Guidance of the German Aerospace Center a remote center working environment was realized for controlling two regional airports. In a 3-factor experimental design it was investigated empirically how workload ratings differed when (1) one controller was responsible for two airports; or when two controllers were responsible for two airports with (2) each controller responsible for one airport or rather (3) working in a team responsible for both airports. Workload ratings were gathered online using the Instantaneous Self-Assessment scale and after each simulation run using the NASA-Task Load Index. In addition, expert participants judged specific traffic situations in the single operator condition for two airports in respect to its operational feasibility. The data are analysed and discussed in respect to what can be learned for work organisation and future ATC concepts. This paper, thus, contributes to better understanding the basic conditions a controller needs to meet his obligations as an air traffic controller. Such knowledge is indispensable when developing novel concepts for remote control of regional airports. remote tower control, work organisation, workload, safety I.

This paper focuses on investigating (a) whether cognitive lockup can be provoked in an experimental setup in a realistic, generic cockpit simulator and (b) whether the occurrence of cognitive lockup further depends on the pilot or on an interaction between the aviation situation and the pilot. To investigate these research questions, an experiment was conducted during which pilots aviated two scenarios. Both scenarios reflect an approach situation in which the second autopilot failed as a first event and the runway was changed as a second event. The main difference of the scenarios is the timing of the autopilot failure and the runway change: In the experimental condition, the events occurred later in time, which reduced the time frame available for the briefing. While aviating, the aircraft’s maximum deviation from the specified route was recorded. Statistical analyses showed that pilots were more drawn to cognitive lockup in the situation with more time-pressure resulting in a performance degradation in the aviation task. Aviation performance was further predicted by a significant interaction between the person and the situation, which shows a need to also consider person-related variables when explaining the occurrence of cognitive lockup.

The paper aims at understanding crucial variables that influence the control of visual attention of tower controllers. Novel concepts for aerodrome control of regional airports consider to remotely control two or more airports at a time from one remote center. A simulation experiment was set up where 12 professional tower controllers operated parallel traffic of two airports. Eye gaze recording and questionnaires were used. Two feedback loops are considered to influence the controllers monitoring behavior: The accessibility of the information of the "far-view" and controller strategies. The results show that both variables have a crucial influence on how often the controller updates the information of one airport. This implies that monitoring performance depends on system design and behavioral strategies. These dependencies can be applied to the design of novel ATC-workplaces.

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The DLR Institute of Flight Guidance is one of the leading establishments in the field of air traffic management research worldwide. Research is conducted using different simulation models. The fast time simulation tools (e.g. Simmod, AirTOp, etc.) offer the possibility to examine various aspects of the air traffic in short evaluation cycles. Especially long lasting, complex traffic flows can be well analysed with the help of these tools. In contrast to the fast time simulation tools, the real time simulation facilities operated by the Institute allow the so-called human-in-the-loop research. For instance, the Apron-and Tower Simulator (ATS) emulates the air traffic controller's working environment at the airport. Within this environment, the impact of new concepts on the controllers can be examined. The influence of different traffic scenarios, additional assistant systems, work organization and the design of workplaces on controllers' task-and workload can be researched in this way. Inside the ''Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt'' (DLR) project Remote Airport Traffic Control Center (RAiCe), an approach was developed to combine both types of the described simulation models. Therefore, the fast time simulation was enhanced with elements representing typical tasks of a controller (e.g. separation keeping or radio communication). By this approach, it was possible to preselect appropriate traffic scenarios and to determine special traffic events. At the ATS, air traffic controllers were confronted with the selected scenarios and events. Based on their performance, conclusions concerning different remote tower operation concepts were made. Within this paper, the cooperative use of fast and real time simulation is reviewed. A five step cooperative strategy is suggested to allow for efficient scenario design that enables the validation expert to design scenarios with specific traffic situations using a fast time simulation tool. Furthermore, harmonizing fast and real time simulation offers the possibility to use data of the fast time simulation as scenarios for real time simulations, and real time simulations can be used for the validation of fast time simulation models. Data of the simulations within RAiCe are introduced. The application of the cooperative use of fast and real time simulation for validation of future ATM concepts is indicated.

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The theory of learned carelessness offers an explanation why humans take unnecessary risks by omitting safety precautions against better judgment, but empirical research on learned carelessness is scarce. To test the theory 16 commercial aircraft pilots inspected flight plans on a multi-function display and the occurrence of flight plan errors was manipulated. Pilots rated effort of check performance, risk resulting from check omission and we measured the rate of falsely accepted erroneous flight plans. Participants who repeatedly encountered erroneous flight plans detected more errors during the test phase than participants who previously received only error-free flight plans (p < .01). The results provide evidence that subjective risk resulting from check omission affected the development of learned carelessness (p = .053), while effort of check performance displayed no effect (p = .80) due to invariance in ratings.