Automation in Modern Airplanes ‐ A Safety and Human Factors Based Study
2016; Wiley; Volume: 26; Issue: s1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1002/j.2334-5837.2016.00339.x
ISSN2334-5837
AutoresSouparno Sengupta, Anantha Krishna Donekal, Ankit Raj Mathur,
Tópico(s)Autonomous Vehicle Technology and Safety
ResumoAbstract In last few decades, automation has become the crux of aircraft system design. With progressive strides in the field of computing, data exchange, control and other associated technologies, manufacturers are coming up with ever sophisticated and intelligent automation which are reducing pilot workload and the degree of human intervention necessary in the cockpit. This has made air travel the safest mode of transportation and has enabled crews to cope with increased airspace demands. However statistics show that more and more accidents in the recent years have occurred because of human errors resulting from over reliance or insufficient understanding of the automation. This is testified by accident investigation reports of air disasters like Turkish Airlines B‐737 during approach to Schiphol airport (2009)[1], Air France A‐330 near Rio de Janeiro(2009)[2] and Asiana Airlines B‐777 at San Francisco (2013)[3]. It raises a question of whether automation has really solved the purpose of eliminating human errors and enhancing safety or the industry has created a new challenge in a bid to overcome an old one. In this paper we discuss the philosophies around which aviation related automation is currently built and how it has changed the paradigm of human machine interaction in the cockpit. We also establish the effects of having complex automation in the airplane with respect to training, operating procedures, behavioural instincts of the flight crew and overall safety of the aircraft. We conclude the paper by recommending a new automation philosophy and modelling an existing system around it to illustrate a possible modality of designing automation for aircraft.
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