Pilot Navigation Errors on the Airport Surface: Identifying Contributing Factors and Mitigating Solutions

Abstract

A taxonomy of navigation er r or s (pilot deviations) dur ing taxi oper ations was developed that defines 3 classes of er r or s: planning, decision, and execution err or s. This taxonomy was applied to er r or data fr om 2 full-mission simulation studies Pilots committed navigation er r or s on 17% of cur r ent-day oper ations tr ials (in low-visibility and night), distr ibuted r oughly equally acr oss the 3 er r or classes. Each er r or class was associated with a unique set of contr ibuting factor s and mitigating solutions. Planning er r or s wer e mitigated by technologies that pr ovided an unambiguous r ecor d of the clear ance (datalink and the EMM, which possessed a text-based clear ance). Decision er r or s wer e mitigated by technologies that pr ovided both local and global awar eness including information about the distance to and dir ection of the next tur n, cur r ent ownship location, and a gr aphical depiction of the r oute (as pr ovided by the EMM and HUD together ). Execution er r or s wer e best mitigated by the HUD, which disambiguated the envir onment and depicted the clear ed taxi r oute. Implications for technology design and integr ation ar e pr ovided.