Human Factors Program
In order to meet the Federal Aviation Administrations goal of 2010 to have completed the transition to satellite navigation it is critical that the necessary GPS/WAAS equipment, installations, and operations be approved in a timely manner. The Center's Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division (DTS-79) has been providing support to the groups within the FAA who are tasked with these duties, and are thus responsible for the pace and safety of the transition to satellite navigation. One area in which support has continually been requested has been in human factors.
Although the FAA has adapted to a variety of different navigation systems in the past, Global Positioning System (GPS) is a relatively new technology which poses unique problems in terms of the information accessibility, formatting, and display. These factors have important, yet not thoroughly understood implications for cockpit layout, display design, pilot workload, situational awareness, and training. The Aircraft Certification Specialists, Test Pilots, and Aviation Safety Inspectors require human factors guidance, familiarization, and training. The objective of this program is to provide the FAA support and guidance in human factors in the following five areas:
Human factors evaluations of GPS/WAAS receivers and the associated displays
Development, verification, and validation of certification guidelines for GPS/WAAS receivers and operations
Development of job aids and checklists to provide human factors guidance to the Aircraft Certification and Flight Standards personnel responsible for the approval of new GPS/WAAS equipment, installations, and operations
Familiarization of Certification and Flight Standards personnel with the operating characteristics of GPS receivers and supplementary GPS equipment
Identification of requirements for pilot training
For more information contact Alan Yost at yost@volpe.dot.gov
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