Browsing by Author "Greaves, Matthew"
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Item Open Access Identifying the paths of activated failures of human-automation interaction on the flight deck(Aeronautical and Astronautical Society of the Republic of China, 2016-09-01) Li, Wen-Chin; Greaves, Matthew; Durando, Davide; Lin, John J. H.Cockpit automation has been developed to reduce pilots’ workload and increase pilots’ performance. However, previous studies have demonstrated that failures of automated systems have significantly impaired pilots’ situational awareness. The increased application of automation and the trend of pilots to rely on automation have changed pilot’s role from an operator to a supervisor in the cockpit. Based on the analysis of 257 ASRS reports, the result demonstrated that pilots represent the last line of defense during automation failures, though sometimes pilots did commit active failures combined with automation-induced human errors. Current research found that automation breakdown has direct associated with 4 categories of precondition of unsafe acts, including ‘adverse mental states’, ‘CRM’, ‘personal readiness’, and ‘technology environment’. Furthermore, the presence of ‘CRM’ almost 3.6 times, 12.7 times, 2.9 times, and 4 times more likely to occur concomitant failures in the categories of ‘decision-errors’, ‘skill-based error’, ‘perceptual errors’, and ‘violations’. Therefore, CRM is the most critical category for developing intervention of Human-Automation Interaction (HAI) issues to improve aviation safety. The study of human factors in automated cockpit is critical to understand how incidents/accidents had developed and how they could be prevented. Future HAI research should continue to increase the reliability of automation on the flight deck, develop backup systems for the occasional failures of cockpit automation, and train flight crews with competence of CRM skills in response to automation breakdowns.Item Open Access Investigating accidents involving aircraft manufactured from polymer composite materials(Cranfield University, 2013-03) Dunn, Leigh; Braithwaite, Graham R.; Greaves, MatthewThis thesis looks into the examination of polymer composite wreckage from the perspective of the aircraft accident investigator. It develops an understanding of the process of wreckage examination as well as identifying the potential for visual and macroscopic interpretation of polymer composite aircraft wreckage. The in-field examination of aircraft wreckage, and subsequent interpretations of material failures, can be a significant part of an aircraft accident investigation. As the use of composite materials in aircraft construction increases, the understanding of how macroscopic failure characteristics of composite materials may aid the field investigator is becoming of increasing importance. The first phase of this research project was to explore how investigation practitioners conduct wreckage examinations. Four accident investigation case studies were examined. The analysis of the case studies provided a framework of the wreckage examination process. Subsequently, a literature survey was conducted to establish the current level of knowledge on the visual and macroscopic interpretation of polymer composite failures. Relevant literature was identified and a compendium of visual and macroscopic characteristics was created. Two full-scale polymer composite wing structures were loaded statically, in an upward bending direction, until each wing structure fractured and separated. The wing structures were subsequently examined for the existence of failure characteristics. The examination revealed that whilst characteristics were present, the fragmentation of the structure destroyed valuable evidence. A hypothetical accident scenario utilising the fractured wing structures was developed, which UK government accident investigators subsequently investigated. This provided refinement to the investigative framework and suggested further guidance on the interpretation of polymer composite failures by accident investigators.Item Open Access Pilots' eye movement patterns during performing air-to-air mission(EAAP, 2014-09-26) Li, Wen-Chin; Yu, Chung-San; Li, Lon-Wen; Greaves, MatthewEye movement patterns are linked closely with the cognitive process of encoding information that pilots seek and perceive in the cockpit. A total of 30 qualified mission-ready military pilots participated in this research. The ages of participants are between 26 and 51 years old (M=29, SD=6); and total flying hours between 310 and 2920 hours (M=844, SD=720). Eye movement data were collected by a head-mounted ASL (Applied Science Laboratory) Mobile Eye combined with a jet fighter simulator which is a dynamic high fidelity trainer that replicates actual aircraft performance, navigation and weapon systems. The scenario was an air-to-air (AA) task. To complete the task, pilots have to search for the target with eye contact, pursue for aiming at the target, and lock-on for pick-off. The results showed there were significant differences in pilots’ fixations among the five different areas of interest (AOIs), p<.001. Also, there were significant differences in pupil size (p<.001) for three different operating phases between experienced and less-experienced pilots; however, the average saccade velocity showed no difference. Understanding the pilot’s visual scan pattern for attention distribution whilst pursuing a dynamic target will facilitate aviation professionals in developing an effective training syllabus to improve safety of flight operation.