HUD With a Velocity (Flight-Path) Vector Reduces Lateral Error During Landing in Restricted Visibility

There is some controversy on whether using a head-up display (HUD) will increase accuracy and safety during approach and landing compared to conventional head-down displays, or if the HUD might affect the pilot’s ability to assimilate outside cues at the decision height during approach and landing, thereby reducing the success ratio for landings. This paper reports on two experiments that test these competing hypotheses. Taking advantage of the opportunity when an air transport operator introduced HUD in an existing aircraft fleet, a Boeing 737–700 full-motion simulator flown by commercial airline pilots was used to explore the effects of HUD use, ambient visibility, and length of approach lighting on the size and location of the touchdown footprint. The authors also explored the effects of HUD use on approach success ratio. Findings showed that HUD use reduced the width of the touchdown footprint in all tested visibility and lighting conditions, including visibility below the minimum allowed. HUD use had no effect on the length of the touchdown footprint. These findings confirm that minimum visibility for approaches using HUDs could be set lower than for approaches without an HUD. HUD use did not appear to have a detrimental effect on approach success rate, suggesting that the additional information in the HUD did not distract the pilots' attention or interfere with their decision making.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/21653673
• Authors:
  • Goteman, Orjan
  • Smith, Kip
  • Dekker, Sidney
• Publication Date: 2007

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 91-108
• Serial:
  • International Journal of Aviation Psychology
  • Volume: 17
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • ISSN: 1050-8414
  • EISSN: 1532-7108
  • Serial URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hiap20/current

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air pilots; Aircraft pilotage; Approach; Aviation safety; Decision making; Distraction; Errors; Flight paths; Flight simulators; Head up displays; Hypothesis testing; Landing; Landing aids; Lighting; Velocity; Visibility
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Data and Information Technology; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01044684
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 25 2007 8:46PM