Portable Weather Applications for General Aviation Pilots

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the potential benefits and impact on pilot behavior from the use of portable weather applications.Method: Seventy general aviation (GA) pilots participated in the study. Each pilot was randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group and flew a simulated single-engine GA aircraft, initially under visual meteorological conditions (VMC). The experimental group was equipped with a portable weather application during flight. We recorded measures for weather situation awareness (WSA), decision making, cognitive engagement, and distance from the aircraft to hazardous weather.Results: We found positive effects from the use of the portable weather application, with an increased WSA for the experimental group, which resulted in credibly larger route deviations and credibly greater distances to hazardous weather (≥30 dBZ cells) compared with the control group. Nevertheless, both groups flew less than 20 statute miles from hazardous weather cells, thus failing to follow current weather-avoidance guidelines. We also found a credibly higher cognitive engagement (prefrontal oxygenation levels) for the experimental group, possibly reflecting increased flight planning and decision making on the part of the pilots.Conclusion: Overall, the study outcome supports our hypothesis that portable weather displays can be used without degrading pilot performance on safety-related flight tasks, actions, and decisions as measured within the constraints of the present study. However, it also shows that an increased WSA does not automatically translate to enhanced flight behavior.Application: The study outcome contributes to our knowledge of the effect of portable weather applications on pilot behavior and decision making.

Fatal General Aviation Accidents in Furtherance of Business (1996–2015): Rates, Risk Factors, and Accident Causes

“…Second, an increasing prevalence of onboard portable weather data (FAA, 2015) may also have reduced fatal mishap rates. Supporting this latter contention, in a flight simulator study (Ahlstrom, Ohneiser, & Caddigan, 2016), pilots with portable weather data showed higher cognitive engagement, increased weather situation awareness, and made larger route deviations from adverse weather compared with pilots without weather data. Lastly, it is possible that insurance company dictums regarding simulator/instructional flights requirements for aircraft owners (which may be more stringent than the FAA requirements) may also have had a positive impact on safety.…”

Discussion Panel: General Aviation Weather: Human Factors Issues and Current Research

“…For years, researchers have advocated that general aviation (GA) pilots need additional training in aviation meteorology concepts (Ahlstrom, Ohneiser, & Caddigan, 2016;Blickensderfer et al, 2015;Li, Baker, Grabowski & Rebok, 2001;Wiegmann, Talleur, & Johnson 2008). Given the complexities of weather phenomena, the probabilistic nature of forecasts, and the influx of new display technologies, the notion that GA pilots may need additional training is not a stretch by any imagination.…”

“…Weather hazards include turbulence, icing, lightning, and wind shear and others. Additionally, cloud coverage brings visibility challenges and makes it difficult for pilots to see runways and terrain and/or interpret aircraft position (Ahlstrom, Ohneiser, & Caddigan, 2016). To avoid weather hazards, pilots perform numerous weather related tasks intermingled with their other flight tasks.…”

Brain–Computer Interface-Based Adaptive Automation to Prevent Out-Of-The-Loop Phenomenon in Air Traffic Controllers Dealing With Highly Automated Systems

“…Also, any eventual performance degradation would become “measurable” by the system when the operator already suffered a mental impairment, i.e., “after the fact” (Endsley, 1995). Finally, these measures have been found to be reliably diagnostic of multiple levels of arousal, attention, and workload (Berka et al, 2004; Giraudet et al, 2015; McMahan et al, 2015; Ahlstrom et al, 2016; Dehais et al, 2016; Borghini et al, 2017b, c; Cartocci et al, 2018; Dehais et al, 2018; Di Flumeri et al, 2018). Even if there are still many critical conceptual and technical issues (e.g., making the recording equipment less obtrusive and more comfortable and obtaining reliable signals in noisy environments) (Minguillon et al, 2017; Aricò et al, 2018), numerous works have proved that it is indeed possible to obtain indices of user’s brain activity and use that information to drive an AA system to improve performance and moderate workload in complex environment (see, for example, Wilson and Russell, 2003; John et al, 2004; Aricò et al, 2016a).…”