Pilot Support Interface for Three-Degree Decelerating Approach Procedures

Abstract

Previous research on aircraft noise abatement has resulted in some promising flight procedures to mitigate noise impact, such as the three-degree decelerating approach (TDDA). A problem with decelerating approaches, however, is that they typically lead to increased spacing, which in turn results in a significant reduction of runway landing capacity. A possible solution to this problem might be to delegate the task of separating the aircraft during the approach to the pilot. To aid the pilot, an algorithm has been developed that predicts the trajectory of the preceding aircraft and optimizes the flap schedule based on this prediction. Offline simulations indicate that using this system runway throughput numbers of up to 98% of the capacity of a conventional instrument landing system (ILS) approach can be achieved (Ren & Clarke, 2003). To assess practical implementation issues and to investigate pilot appreciation, a piloted experiment was conducted, for which a pilot support interface has been developed that presents the future separation information in an intuitive fashion. The experiment showed that it is indeed possible for pilots to perform the spacing task while flying a TDDA. The pilot support interface significantly reduces pilot workload when compared to a baseline display. Also the effects of off-nominal lead pilot behavior on pilot performance are reduced by the use of online flap schedule optimization and separation prediction.

Procedure and Interface Design for Continuous Descent Approaches Under End Time Constraints

“…Having shaped the outline of the taken approach, hence to modify the initial definition of CDA and be flexible in terms of thrust, in pursuing of achieving a desired ETA, the next step is to define the rest of the parameters. At first, the flight path angle γ of the CDA has been considered to be constant [4]- [6], [12], but also a free variable [11], but the latter is not adopted, since it may complicate more the task of separation by the ATC. An example of this type of trajectory is presented in Figure 1.…”

“…This concept was tested in computer simulations using aircraft performance data [14], [15], [18], [30] in European airports varying in traffic load. In addition, more realistic conditions were examined in actual flight tests [4], [6], [10], [23] and sessions in flight simulators [6], [12], [13]. The procedure of CDA has been adapted to different forms, by modifying its parameters.…”