Automation: request for input

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Date: Thu, 28 Apr 94 06:59:08 PDT
From: funkk () ENGR ORST EDU (Ken Funk)
Subject: Automation: request for input


Oregon State University, America West Airlines, and Honeywell are conducting a
study of flightdeck automation for the Federal Aviation Administration which
requires input from the scientific community.


The increasing use of automation on the flightdecks of commercial transport
aircraft has raised concerns about the overall safety effects of this
equipment.  While several studies have attempted to address some of these
automation issues, until now no one has tried to systematically identify all
issues that exist about flightdeck automation.  The objectives of this study
are to collect and compile a comprehensive list of all flightdeck automation
problems and concerns and to address them in order to identify or generate
recommendations and guidelines for the FAA, manufacturers, and operators.


To achieve these objectives we are soliciting information on automation
problems and concerns from individuals in a variety of disciplines.  When we
have compiled these problems and concerns we will prioritize them, study the
highest priority items using analytic methods and simulator studies, and
identify and develop recommendations based on our findings.


Although we are primarily targeting the aviation community for sources of
automation problems and concerns, we recognize that individuals in other
disciplines have knowledge of other kinds of system automation and know of
automation problems or have concerns about automation that would be very
relevant to our study.  Experts in computer science, human factors
engineering, psychology, and other fields often deal with the automation of
industrial systems, office equipment, and even consumer devices, so we welcome
information from them.


If you have direct knowledge about system automation and you know of problems
with or have concerns about the safety of such automation, you can help us by
filling out a copy of our Automation Problems and Concerns Questionnaire. This
is an opportunity for you to contribute to flight safety and, if you wish, we
will put you on our distribution list to receive copies of reports on the
results of our study.


If you would like to fill out a questionnaire, send a message to
flight () engr orst edu (don't post your request to this newsgroup!).  Request a
copy of the Automation Questionnaire, and I will send you a copy via e-mail.
When you have completed it (which should take between 15 and 30 minutes), just
e-mail the completed version back to me.  The problems and concerns you
identify will be added to our database and used in our study.


Ken Funk, Assistant Professor of Ind. and Mfg. Engineering, Oregon State Univ.
flight () engr orst edu, funkk () engr orst edu  (503) 737-2357  FAX: (503) 737-5241