Air Traffic Management Concept Baseline Definition - The Boeing ...

Capturing the range of normal, rare-normal, and abnormal conditions is itself difficult.
The baseline database must do this for the operations as they occur today. Controllers and
other end users must be key members of the team which develops this database. In fact, a
number of end users from very different ATC environments should participate and review
the database to ensure adequate capture of operating conditions.
4.3 Human Factors Issues Affecting Tactical Control
This section identifies the major human factors issues that have an impact on the search for
increased capacity in the tactical domain of the air traffic management system.
The terminal and tower domains are probably the most dynamic parts of the air traffic
control environment. They are both time- and safety-critical, and the central role of the
human in these domains is both skill- and practice-critical. These environments are
managed by many individual controllers, all in the very exposed situation of having no
immediate support for their tasks. This is because in tower and terminal control there is
not usually a second controller working in close contact (like the ‘D’ side of en route).
Thus the controller is a potential single point failure which, when combined with the single
VHF radio channel for communications, makes for a high level of risk in the event of a
failure in either of these two subsystems. The pressure on the controllers and pilots in this
environment has a greater significance when taking into account the nature of terminal and
tower operations. It is here that most rare-normal situations occur involving aircraft
failures, pilot errors or weather effects. This is also where separation standards are used
as the target separation distances to achieve maximum throughput. Allowing a little extra
separation reduces throughput, while a judgmental error the other way causes a loss in the
safety separation. In addition, there is always the potential for an aircraft to suffer some
form of technical problem. The terminal and tower environments are thus very difficult
domains in which to implement change and the challenge must not be underestimated.
Sections 4.3.1 - 4 attempt to frame the specific human factor issues that affect increasing
throughput in the terminal airspace. These issues were raised earlier within Section 3.4.
The issues of one section tend to be influenced by issues in other sections. This is the
nature of the system, complex and interconnected with adaptive, reasoning humans in a
key role.
4.3.1 Decision Support Systems
The term ‘decision support’ covers many different types and levels of computerized
support or guidance to the human operator. The main issues associated with decision
support are the growing dependency that tends to occur and the effect that the support
could have on the ability to maintain situational awareness.
Whatever the nature of the support system, it is clear that controllers and pilots respond in
a very similar way to other living organisms by developing a growing dependency on the
support. This growing dependency has been described in various sources and has a major
impact on the way that human roles should develop within air traffic control systems.
48