Glasgow 12 September 20061/22DEEP BLUE CONSULTING AND RESEARCH | CLAUDIA FUSAI ASAS-TN2 Controllers...

Glasgow 12 September 2006 1/22DEEP BLUE CONSULTING AND RESEARCH | CLAUDIA FUSAI

ASAS-TN2

Controllers situational awareness issues


ASAS-TN2: Controllers situational awareness issues

The human factors issues discussed in the presentation comes from the results of the Real Time Simulation 3 of the MFF project

Introduction



Situation awareness

Summary

Controllers ASAS tools

ASAS Procedures



Controllers ASAS tools: description ASAS procedures

Controllers ASAS tools

Description

What can be improved



DHL456

320

AZA354

320 A5432

12/10

DHL456

320

AZA354

320

12/10

Potential ASAS HMI (instruction still to be issued to the aircraft)

Shorten verbal communication between EXC and PLC

Allows a rapid and immediate visual representation of the possible ASAS

sequence

Confirmed ASAS HMI(unselected state)

Current spacing (12) and cleared spacing (10)




Confirmed ASAS HMI

(selected state of an ASAS pair and visualisation of the ASAS chain)




What can be improved in controllers ASAS tools

Examples taken from the observation

Improvements suggested by controllers during debriefing sessions

Controllers ASAS tools: to improve ASAS procedures



Coordination tool

NW2 (upper) has to set-up ASAS chains useful for NW1 (lower)

A lot of effort spent in co-ordination between the PLC of NW2 and NW1 for establishing the ASAS sequence to be set-up in NW2.

High traffic load, the traffic evolved rapidly

Once the PLC came to an agreement, the EXC of NW2 took his own actions

PLC frustration

NW2 started transferring the a/c non ASAS linked, so NW1 could autonomously decide how to link them

From the observation




Coordination tool

To coordinate electronically between sectors

Proposal

It was suggested something like a ‘potential ASAS’ that can be confirmed or cancelled




ASAS monitoring aid

3 classes of events:

From the observation

UNCERTAINTY - Controllers are not able to predict if the a/c will be able to reach and maintain the spacing.

ATTENTION GETTER - When the spacing is lost, controllers are not advised.

CLUSTER - Controllers cognitively treat an ASAS pair as a unique item.




ASAS monitoring aid

From the observation – Example n.1 (uncertainty)

GRO is a merging point where traffic has to be at FL190 spaced at 8NM.

However, mainly due to airborne system problems, sometimes the spacing critically reduced. In most cases controllers did not take immediate recovery actions as they were not sure if the traffic was able to reach and maintain the cleared spacing later

Controllers: too much attention on “uncertain” ASAS pairs, waiting to see what was happening

Controllers: too much uncertainty on whether to cancel the ASAS application or maintain it




ASAS monitoring aid

From the observation – Example n.1 (uncertainty)

In the pictures AZA611 is delegated to merge over GRO behind AZA401 and then follow at 8NM. However the spacing reduces and only when the two aircraft are very close, the controller decides to change the level.




ASAS monitoring aid

From the observation – Example n.2 (attention getter)

When the spacing is lost, the HMI does not offer any attention getter to warn controllers.

- Confidence on ASAS tools: controllers focussed the attention on non ASAS linked a/c. When the spacing was lost, sometimes controllers were not aware in time.

- Low confidence on ASAS tools: controllers were so focused in setting up and monitoring ASAS chains (due to the lack of monitoring aid) that they reduced the attention on other parts of the sector.




ASAS monitoring aid

From the observation – Example n.2 (attention getter)

NOV8426 is delegated to AEF224.

AEF224 is over BOL.

NOV8426 is at 8NM instead of 10.




ASAS monitoring aid

From the observation – Example n.3 (cluster)

ASAS sequencing and merging procedures allow to link a/c with similar performances, speed, FL, routes, therefore facilitating cognitive cluster processes: cognitive resources use is optimised by grouping in a single cluster the various elements to be considered.

“When I have a cluster of a/c I see it as a single a/c. Using clusters is important because they reduce mental load, in fact all the a/c of the cluster behave in the same way. As the use of clusters frees part of my mental load, I can use it for other situations. ASAS facilitates the use of clusters” (G2G)

Unfortunately the same mechanism can result in the oversight of relevant characteristics of one of the cluster members.

Once clustered, items are hard to separate and single members’ peculiarities may be overlooked as they are not common to other cluster members.




ASAS monitoring aid

From the observation – Example n.3 (cluster)

In the picture, EGL182 (the delegated a/c) was considered at the same FL of the target a/c (AZA1704), even if it was still climbing to that FL. Once the controller had established the ASAS configuration and cleared the delegated a/c for the target a/c FL, he started considering the two a/c as if they were on the same FL, hence forgetting about the temporary discrepancy between them, thus causing a conflict with ISS516




ASAS monitoring aid

Proposal

ASAS monitoring tool with the following functionalities:

Predict ASAS able or unable

Warn if the spacing is lost

Support clustering, advising when an ASAS pair is not stable and cannot be treated as such




Procedures refinement

The lack of procedures or the presence of not well defined procedures introduce uncertainty

MFF collected many results on procedural aspects, only the more general ones are presented

Controllers ASAS tools ASAS procedures



When/how to apply ASAS

Easy and clear to remember procedures (e.g. the steps to issue an ASAS clearance, the applicability conditions to issue an ASAS application).

However it is difficult to concretely understand: when it is convenient to apply ASAS and

how to efficiently apply ASAS in order to obtain concrete benefits

Controllers ask for more specific and concrete procedures on when to apply and how to apply an ASAS application.




Responsibility

Controllers do not feel comfortable in being responsible for the separation while delegating the manoeuvre to the crew. Controllers find difficult to trust the crew for an action whose consequences are controllers’ responsibility.

In case the responsibility for the separation is maintained by controllers, they need more effective tools that warn them in case the ASAS application does not evolve as expected.




Cancel ASAS, retain target

Sometimes controllers wanted pilots to cancel ASAS but to retain the target: it is the case when an ASAS linked a/c receives a heading by the controller. The heading can be input by pilots once the ASAS is cancelled. Controllers may know that the ASAS cancellation is a temporary event and that soon they will give an ASAS application with the same target. The use of “cancel ASAS and retain target”, avoids to spend time in target identification and positioning.

Introduce the possibility to visualise the instruction ‘Cancel ASAS, retain target’, as a reminder for controllers.



Thank you!

Glasgow 12 September 20061/22DEEP BLUE CONSULTING AND RESEARCH | CLAUDIA FUSAI ASAS-TN2 Controllers...

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