Automated Systems in the Cockpit: Is the Autopilot, "George," a Team Member?

Abstract

In the earliest days, air transports were operated by a single pilot because the airplanes in the 1920s were small and rudimentary. As the size and the sophistication of equipment increased, a copilot was added to help the captain in controlling the airplane and monitoring the systems, thereby improving safety. The 1930s brought about four-engine transports, the artificial horizon, and the first autopilot prototypes. As flights became longer and cockpits acquired more equipment, a flight engineer was added to the crew. Soon thereafter, multiple engineers, navigators, radio operators, and stewards were also necessary to accomplish all of the tasks facing the team on a typical flight or mission.By the 1950s, the size of the human team began to shrink as navigators and radio operators were replaced with new, more reliable ground-based communication and navigation equipment. At first, the main thrust for the rapid development and implementation of automation revolved around human performance limitations as aircraft flew higher, faster, and for longer periods of time. Early research studies on pilot stress and fatigue (e.g., McFarland, 1953) were often presented as evidence for the advantages of 243

Technology as Teammate: Examining the Role of External Cognition in Support of Team Cognitive Processes

“…As one example, Hutchins used cockpit technology (e.g., attitude indicator) and the aviation crew, to describe a distributed cognitive system. In these specific settings, some have even discussed the idea that automation technology be construed of as a teammate ( Hoeft et al, 2006 ). This expanded the boundaries of how cognition can be analyzed – with distribution encompassing processes across time, as well as across the team, and internal and external cognitive structures in humans, and their supporting technology.…”

From Tools to Teammates: Toward the Development of Appropriate Mental Models for Intelligent Robots

“…In addition, humans bring individual characteristics to the team including attitudes and beliefs about automated systems, which may also influence how they perceive an automated or robotic teammate to perform. Specifically, Hoeft, Kochan & Jentsch (2006) stated that pilots are more likely to attribute too much knowledge to aircraft automation, even though there have been instances in which automated systems within the cockpit have provided pilots with incorrect, and potentially dangerous information. Knowledge estimation, attitudes, and expectancies all play a significant role in the formation of mental models and the level of trust placed in automated systems.…”

21st International Symposium on Aviation Psychology

“…Aviation is heavily based in technology and technological advances continue to be introduced. Some view technology as functioning as a teammate (Fiore & Wiltshire, 2016;Hoeft et al, 2006). Technology can lessen the cognitive load by allowing for the offloading of duties (i.e., the use of autopilots and automated airspace management tools) and by providing shared displays and memory archives (such as the onboard Flight Management System-FMS with navigation, communication, performance, etc.)…”