Dr. Todd Truitt, an engineering research psychologist with the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J., and member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, has created "Concept Development and Design Description of Electronic Flight Data Interfaces for Airport Traffic Control Towers."
Dramatic projected increases in air traffic and focused modernization efforts have led the FAA to consider replacing paper flight progress strips with an electronic alternative. Electronic flight data (EFD) interfaces can potentially increase a controller's ability to acquire, track and record information, as well as communicate and coordinate that information with others. More importantly, EFD can improve controller efficiency by providing new methods of flight data management that integrate information into a single source, enhancing safety.
The first prototype interface, the Integrated EFDI, combines textual EFD with an airport surface situation display provided by Airport Surface Detection Equipment - Model X (ASDE-X) radar. The second prototype interface, the Perceptual-Spatial (P-S) EFDI, combines textual EFD with an airport surface map, without using ASDE-X radar. This interface also functions as a backup flight data management system to the Integrated EFDI if ASDE-X capabilities were to fail.
"We were excited to demonstrate the effectiveness of electronic flight data interfaces to such an influential target audience," said Deborah Germak, the FAA's Technology Transfer Program Manager. "This new design and technology has the potential to enhance the performance of air traffic controllers and the National Airspace System, overall."
More info: Deborah Germak, deborah.germak@faa.gov
