Concepedia

Abstract

Abstract This article deals with an aircraft accident in which the two engines lost their power immediately after takeoff and the pilots succeeded in landing the aircraft safely with the 129 people on board. The pilots have been interviewed concerning the human-machine interaction, the task allocation, and their reactions. The theoretical background relates to Reason's (1990) theory on human errors as well as to Wicken's (1994) analysis of automation-induced problems. The instruments did not give proper decision support lo the pilots in the emergency situation and research areas are therefore suggested to deal with the digital versus analog presentation as well as the priority order of information in emergencies.