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Recent developments in avionics and ground-sensor technology have led to multiple approaches toward remote traffic control for small, regional airports. We investigated a new operational concept considering the simultaneous control of several airports from a single remote location in an experimental setup. The number of airports and the control principle – that is, the control of one versus several aircraft at a time – were compared applying a multiple-task paradigm. The impact of both variables on relevant performance indicators was assessed. While performance in issuing clearances was excellent in all conditions, mental effort increased and detection performance deteriorated with the number of controlled airports. Surprisingly, the several-at-a-time principle enhanced detection performance for unexpected events and reduced response times to situational awareness queries.

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Abstract. The present study explores the usefulness of a method to evaluate pilot fatigue based on video recordings. This technique is already being successfully applied in the field of driver fatigue evaluations. Still, to date, there is no known application concerning pilot fatigue. A sample of five trained raters evaluated four active airline pilots on simulated flights using a 9-point fatigue rating scale. The rating scale was adjusted for the aviation context and features 10 subscales relating to different indicators for fatigue. Interrater agreement and reliability, as well as intrarater and retest reliability, were assessed. The results indicate good reliability of the method and medium rater agreement. Raters seem to have established a good mental model of fatigue, leading to consistent evaluations. However, there are also individual rating tendencies as well as the influence of sample characteristics.

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