33 research outputs found
Comparative Qualitative Research Distinguishing Safety Features Among Aviation Safety Action Programs in the United States Airlines
No full textabstract: Over the years, aviation safety has been influenced by continuous implementations of both proactive and reactive policies by both regulatory boards and also, aviation service providers. This achievement has been possible mainly because of the safety management tools like the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) which derives its roots from the much earlier Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides guidelines and procedures for installation and development of an ASAP, for every airline in the United States. In this study, how different United States air carriers apply ASAP in their organizations is investigated.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Technology 201
Generational Differences in Safety Attitudes Among Commercial Airline Pilots
No full textabstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the generational differences among US commercial airline pilots regarding their attitudes toward safety. A survey was distributed to three different US airlines: one major commercial airline, one regional airline, and one charter airline. A total of 106 pilots participated in this study. The pilots were categorized into three groups of generations based on birth years: Baby Boomers: 1946-1964, Generation X: 1965-1980, and Generation Y: 1981-2000. Through the use of one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), the results of the analyses found that there was no significant difference between the generations of pilots regarding safety attitudes. In the subcategory of self-confidence, the results indicated no significant differences between the different generations of pilots. However, in the subcategories of risk orientation and safety orientation, significant differences were detected among the three generations of pilots. Baby Boomers were found to have the lowest risk tolerance, while Generation Y had the highest. Conversely, Baby Boomers were found to have the highest safety orientation, with the lowest being that of Generation Y.Dissertation/ThesisM.S.Tech Technology 201
Factors Contributing to Self-Reported Student Pilot Fatigue
No full textabstract: Student pilots are the future of aviation and one of the biggest problems that they face as new pilots is fatigue. The survey was sent out asking if student pilots were fatigued, if they attribute flight training, school work, work outside of school, and social obligations to their sleep loss, and how they spend their time on those activities. The survey was given to aviation students at Arizona State University (ASU) Polytechnic Campus. ASU student pilots were found to be fatigued through a single sample t-test. Other t-tests were done on each of the questions that asked student pilots how flight training, school work, work outside of school and social obligations affect their sleep loss. Flight training and school were found to be contributing to student pilots sleep loss. Work outside of school and social obligations were found to not be contributing to student pilots sleep loss. It was found that student pilots’ tendency to use a planner or calendar was found to not be significant. Along with this planning through the week when they will do assignments or study for exams was also not found to be significant. Students making lists of assignments and when they are due was also found to not be significant. The t-test also found that student pilots are neutral on the topic of whether good time management skills would help increase the amount of sleep that they get.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Technology 201
Training Interventions to Reduce Air Force Predator Mishaps
No full textThe use of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) is expanding rapidly. In military operations, this increased use has been accompanied by relatively high mishap rates compared with rates across more mature manned aircraft. These higher rates led to multiple high-level reviews of unmanned operations, but surprisingly little consensus emerged across reports regarding root causes. To help close this gap, Air Force Predator Class A mishap reports through FY 2008 were analyzed in detail. Mishap rates, counts, and causal factors appeared to shift systematically over time, with an increase in mishap reports citing shortfalls in several skill and knowledge areas in FY 2004-2006. Individual and team Predator training objectives were revisited at the end of 2006 and the content of crew resource management (CRM) training was refocused on improving these key operator skills. In FY 2007-2008, Predator Class A mishap attributed to operator error decreased despite increasing numbers of mishaps overall
The Effect of Situation Presence Assessment Method (SPAM) on Air Traffic Control Students' Workload and Performance in High-Fidelity Simulations
No full textabstract: This study examined the impact of Situation Presence Assessment Method (SPAM) administration on air traffic control (ATC) students’ task workload and performance in high-fidelity ATC simulations. ATC students performed high-fidelity en-route simulations in two conditions: baseline conditions (without SPAM questions) and SPAM conditions. The data collected show that while workload in the two conditions were not significantly different, there was a trend of higher mental workload in SPAM conditions than in baseline conditions. Performance immediately following SPAM questions was revealed to be poorer than that preceding the SPAM questions and that over the equivalent time periods in the baseline conditions. The results suggest that a "Ready" signal before a SPAM question may not be enough to eliminate the impact of SPAM administration on ATC students’ workload and performance in high-fidelity en-route simulations.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Technology 201
Hypoxia: An Analysis of Hypobaric Chamber Training
No full textabstract: Hypoxic hypoxia is a physiological condition which can manifest as a result of reduced barometric pressure, resulting in an insufficient amount of oxygen for use by the tissues in the body. Hypoxic hypoxia is of concern to pilots due to dangerous impairment the condition can cause in-flight, such as short term memory loss, incoordination, or incapacitation. Several aircraft incidents and accidents have been attributed to hypoxia in the past ten years. To train for hypoxia recognition, high altitude chambers are used to induce hypoxia in participants, through a reduction of pressure inside a reinforced chamber. The training allows participants to experience their personal physiological symptoms of hypoxia in a controlled environment, in order to be trained in recognition and intervention techniques. This study surveyed 110 participants of high altitude chamber training to analyze perceptions, experience, and attitudes of respondents toward the training. Significant results were found; to include 99% of participants stating they would recommend the training to others, and 96.8% stating they felt they were a safer pilot, crewmember, or other support personnel due to attending high altitude chamber training. Two questions related to formal regulatory oversight revealed non-significant results. The purpose and results of this study are intended to support the improvement of aviation physiological training practices, in an effort to reduce hypoxia-related aircraft incidents an accidents in the future.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Technology 201
Navigating the Airport Environment at Night: An Analysis of Pilot Confusion
No full textabstract: The statistical significance of airport environment incidents related to pilot confusion at night was explored. Some articles suggest there is a higher rate of incidents during the day than during the night, while others suggest any low visibility environment will a greater processing time for the brain to react to outside references. Other researchers suggest incidents are not tied to time of day but to time spent looking inside the cockpit compared to outside the cockpit. Using this research and an analyzation of incident reports collected by the Aviation Safety Reporting System, this paper suggests there is a statistically significant relationship between incidents involving pilot confusion on the surface and time of day
The Relationship Between Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms and Nicotine Habits in Pilots
No full textabstract: Nicotine and tobacco use, whether it be through cigarette smoking or other devices, creates negative health conditions in pilots. The literature that was reviewed pertained to nicotine withdrawal symptoms and their negative impact on pilot performance. There have been studies conducted in order to explore how these symptoms impact pilot performance using cigarettes as the only nicotine device and does not specify the nicotine levels or the frequency of use. This thesis extends this work to examine the relationship between the nicotine withdrawal symptoms and the nicotine behaviors of pilots. It was hypothesized that the extent of withdrawal symptoms may differ by device and by nicotine levels and frequency of use, with higher levels and more frequent use being associated with more severe withdrawal symptoms. These behaviors included the device they use to take nicotine whether it be cigarettes, vaporizers, e-cigarettes, or smokeless tobacco. The behaviors also included exploration of how nicotine levels relate to withdrawal symptoms whether the nicotine level is as low as 3mg or high as 36mg. The last relationship that was explored was that between the withdrawal symptoms presented in pilots and how often they used nicotine, whether it be often as every day or less frequent as 1-2 times a year. It was found that there is no statistical relationship between nicotine withdrawal symptoms and the nicotine habits such as device used, nicotine level used, and frequency of use.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Engineering 201
Stimulus Intensity And Probability Of Stimulus Change As Determinants Of Simple Reaction Time
No full textMany reaction time investigators have shown that as stimulus intensities increase response latencies decrease. In addition, Spiess (1971) demonstrated that the presentation of knowledge concerning the nature of the upcoming stimulus prior to its onset (preknowledge) could result in decreased reaction times. Spiess concluded that this preknowledge effect was interpretable within the framework of Grice\u27s variable criterion model. Grice\u27s model assumes that a response would occur when information concerning the onset of a stimulus reached a required level or criterion. The rate at which this information accumulates is determined by the intensity of the stimulus with stronger stimuli resulting in faster accumulation. According to Spiess, preknowledge resulted in a lower criterion, which was reflected by faster responses. The present experiment was designed to further investigate the feasibility of using the criterion model to explain the preknowledge effect. In the present study an attempt was made to manipulate stimulus expectancy by varying the probability that the stimulus would remain unchanged from one trial to the next. When the probability of change was low, the same stimulus that was presented on the previous trial should be expected on the subsequent trial, and when the probability of stimulus change was high, presentation of the same stimulus on the following trial would presumably be unexpected. Each subject received a series of stimuli with the probability of change being equal to .00, .10, .25, .50, .75, .90, or 1.00, resulting in seven groups of subjects, with each group receiving a sequence with one of these probabilities of stimulus change. The findings showed that stimuli following the predominant pattern (either having changed from the intensity presented on the previous trial or not depending on which sequence was being presented), were responded to more quickly than were stimuli that deviated from the overall pattern. These results were not easily interpretable using Grice\u27s variable criterion model. The model could explain these findings, however, if two criteria were assumed to exist rather than the single criterion presently employed by the model, or if the rate of information accumulation was made to depend not only on stimulus intensity but also upon stimulus expectancy
Public Perception of Autonomous Aircraft
No full textabstract: The aviation industry is considered to be the safest when it comes to transportation of people and property. The standards by which companies provide air transportation are held are very high. Nevertheless, a shortage in the number of pilots exists and companies must look for ways to meet demands. One of the ways to resolve this issue is to introduce unmanned systems on a broader scale – to transport people and property. The public’s perception regarding this issue has not been well documented. This survey identified what the public’s attitude is towards the use of these systems. One hundred fifty-seven people participated in this survey. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine if participant demographics, previous aviation background, and comfort levels were significantly related to various transportation technologies. Those who were comfortable or uncomfortable with self-driving cars kept their same comfort level for other technologies such as drone delivery services. The survey also revealed that the vast majority of respondents did not feel comfortable being a passenger on fully autonomous aircraft. With an overwhelming percentage of society not comfortable with the idea of there being no pilot for the aircraft, it is important for companies working to implement this technology to pay close attention to the public perception of autonomous aircraft.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Technology 201
