Contrastive Analysis of Distractions to Pilot Caused by Various Flight Instrument Displays

Abstract

Automation of aircraft instrument displays enhances flight safety, but it also increases complexity and pilot workload. Executing changes in flight plan, navigation or communication during flight using flight instrument switches often increases pilots' workload and this may also cause distraction that adds potential risks to flight safety. This study compares the conventional avionics panel and touchscreen avionic panel to find out the least distractive panel for the pilots. Thirty simulated flights using four different pilots were carried out; and aircraft speed, altitude and heading parameters using both avionics systems were observed to study the operational efficiency and pilot distraction resulted from each of the avionic systems. The distraction was examined by a parameter analysis based on the Mean Squared Error (MSE) mathematical model and visually by recording videos of each simulated flight. The results indicate that the touchscreen system is more efficient and less erroneous for the aircraft in maintaining the parameters as compared with the conventional system. There is also a clear relationship between task completion time and disruption level on the parameters control.

The research of touch screen usability in civil aircraft cockpit

“…Some researchers have compared and analyzed the touch screens with traditional devices, such as MCP(Mode Control Panel), MCDU(Multi-Control and Display Unit), cursor, and keyboard [ 9 , 10 ]. Those studies show that there are many advantages to using the touch screens in the cockpit, the operation performance and workload of pilots have both improved [ 11 ]. However, there are also differences in various layouts and positions.…”