Hundreds of articles and presentations have addressed problems and concerns with flight deck automation. Many have raised general concerns about the approaches taken to automation use philosophies and automation design. Others have addressed specific problems or concerns identified with particular designs or implementations of automation.The first phase of our research identified 114 human factors problems and concerns with flight deck automation (Funk, Lyall, & Riley, 1995). In the second phase of our project we used a wide variety of sources to locate and record evidence related to these problems and concerns. Because an issue is " [a] point of discussion, debate, or dispute ..." (Morris, 1969), we decided to change our terminology and refer to these problems and concerns as flight deck automation issues. This is what will be used for the remainder of this paper.The sources we reviewed for evidence included accident reports, documents describing incident report studies, and documents describing scientific experiments, surveys and other studies. We also conducted a survey of individuals with broad expertise related to human factors and flight deck automation (human factors scientists, aviation safety professionals, pilots, and others), and evaluated a related set of ASRS incident reports. We reviewed these sources for data and other objective information related to the issues. For each instance of evidence we qualitatively assessed the extent to which it supported one side of the issue or the other, and assigned a numeric strength rating between -5 and +5. We assigned a positive strength rating to evidence supporting that side of the issue suggested by its issue statement (supportive evidence) and a negative strength rating to evidence supporting the other side (contradictory evidence).For example, consider the statement of issue065: Pilots may lose psychomotor and cognitive skills required for flying manually, or for flying non-automated aircraft, due to extensive use of automation. If we found evidence in a source indicating that pilots lose manual flying skills due to extensive use of automation (at least under some circumstances), we recorded the related excerpt from the source document and assigned this supportive evidence a positive rating, perhaps as great as +5. If we found evidence in a source indicating that pilots can and do maintain manual proficiency even with extensive use of automation (at least under some circumstances), we recorded the related excerpt and assigned this contradictory evidence a negative rating, perhaps as great as -5.We developed detailed strength assignment guidelines for evidence from each type of information source. For example, in pilot surveys of automation issues, if at least 90 per cent of the respondents were in agreement with a statement consistent with an issue statement, we assigned a strength rating of +5. If at least 90 per cent were reported as disagreeing with a statement consistent with an issue statement, we assigned a strength rating of -5. During the process...

The study collected records for 6,734 FAR Part 121 regional airline pilots to determine the effect of pilots' backgrounds on their performance in regional airline training and operations. A previous report (Bjerke et al., 2016) compared the backgrounds of these pilots (post-law pilots) to the backgrounds of pilots hired between 2005 and 2011 (pre-law pilots). This report examines the performance of post-law new-hire pilots in initial training and operations as first officers for Part 121 regional air carriers. Post-law pilot backgrounds were measured against four performance measures: non-completions, extra training, extra initial operating experience (IOE), and extra recurrent training. Pilots who had the fewest non-completions and required less extra training were the recent college graduates (fewer than 4 years since graduation), pilots with fewer total flight hours (1,500 hours or less), and pilots who graduated from flight programs accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI). Pilots who required less extra IOE and less extra recurrent training were pilots whose previous employment was with a Part 121 air carrier, recent college graduates (fewer than 4 years since graduation), and pilots with fewer total flight hours (1,500 hours or less). Other background indicators of successful performance included the Institutional-Authority Restricted ATP (R-ATP); a bachelor's degree, particularly in aviation; and prior military pilot experience. The third report of this series will compare background and success factors between pre-law pilots and post-law pilots.

The 2012 Pilot Source Study (Phase III) was a continuation of the 2010 Pilot Source Study (Smith, Bjerke, NewMyer, Niemczyk & Hamilton, 2010), using the same research design with a new data set containing no duplicate records. University faculty and students assisted seven regional airlines to enter data on 4,024 pilots hired between 2005 and 2011. New-hire pilots' college and piloting backgrounds defined their input (Source) variables. Training and first year operations data defined the output (Success) variables. Identifying information for pilots and participating airlines was removed from the data sets, and records were combined into a single data set for independent analysis by five researchers. Results were verified by two independent researchers from the University of Central Florida (a non-affiliated university). Results showed considerable consistency between the 2010 Pilot Source Study and the 2012 Pilot Source Study regarding initial pilot training at a regional air carrier. The study found that pilots entering the industry with an aviation-specific college degree, particularly a degree from an AABI-accredited flight program, performed better in initial training than those with no degree or a non-aviation degree. The results also indicated that a pilot's background, such as having a CFI certificate and obtaining advanced training from a collegiate aviation program, is an indicator of success in training. One important result was that commercial pilots had more completions than pilots with an ATP certificate. On the other hand, total flight hours produced inconclusive results.

MaryJo Smith is the senior research scientist and CEO of Ypsilon Associates-independent consultants specializing in qualitative and quantitative research and statistical analysis. She earned her PhD in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Evaluation, Statistics, and Research from the University of Minnesota in 1999. In her role as an evaluation consultant, she is the ATQP Data Manager for two airline consortiums in Europe.Cody Christensen received a doctorate in Adult and Higher Education in 2013 from the University of South Dakota. He is an assistant professor and program coordinator of the aviation program at South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD. His current research involves student safety, financial literacy, and agricultural aviation. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and was an airline captain for a regional airline before transitioning into academia.Thomas Carney is a professor of Aviation Technology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with over 48 years of experience as a pilot. He holds MS and PhD degrees in Atmospheric Science. His primary research areas of interest include aviation meteorology, synoptic-scale dynamics and energetics, the use of aircraft for airborne research applications, and pilots' use of weather technology in the cockpit.Paul Craig earned a doctor of education degree in 1998 and is a professor of Aerospace at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. He has been the Principal Investigator on four NASA research grants, including work with computerized flight decks, scenario based training, team dynamics, and decision making. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and is a Gold Seal Flight Instructor.Mary Niemczyk is an associate professor and Chair of the Aviation programs at the Polytechnic School of Arizona State University in Mesa, AZ. She has earned an academic degree in accounting, an MBA-aviation, and PhD in Learning & Instructional Technology. Her research interests center on improving instructional and learning strategies to enhance the performance of individuals in complex, ill-defined environments, such as aviation. AbstractThis report is the first article in a series called Pilot Source Study 2015. Public Law (PL) 111-216, passed by the US Congress in 2010, and the subsequent FAA Regulation, Pilot Certification and Qualification Requirements for Air Carrier Operations Rule, abruptly changed the pilot hiring situation for US air carriers operating under 14 CFR Part 121. PL 111-216 became effective on August 1, 2013; thereafter, pilots were not eligible to be first officers in Part 121 air carriers unless they were certificated as Air Transport Pilots (ATP) with 1,500 hours of flight time, with some flight hour reductions for specified military and academic experiences. Recognizing that the rule had a notable impact on US regional airlines, the researchers visited 19 Part 121 regional airlines to extract data from their documents and records. De-identified background ...

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