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Barriers to the utility of general aviation were identified through a web-based survey of active general aviation pilots based in North America. Several key issues emerged as being important to increasing the utility of general aviation transportation. Improved weather information as well as near all-weather capability for general aviation aircraft and better access to ground transportation at the travel destination would significantly increase utility. Furthermore, modifying the business model for owning and operating general aviation aircraft may be the best near-term strategy for lowering the expense of general aviation transportation. Although increasing the cruise speed of general aviation aircraft is also an attractive strategy, analysis indicates that the overall utility of the aircraft may not be increased.

Two studies were performed to investigate human factors issues associated with advanced terrain displays for transport aircraft. The first study investigated three alerting displays (plan, profile, and three-dimensional views) to aid terrain avoidance maneuver performance. Subjects flew through terrain hazard situations on a simulator, and performed escape maneuvers using a sidestick. Each display was found to have limitations, though the data suggest that plan and profile displays may augment each other when used in combination. In the second study, subjects customized terrain resolution levels on a plan view display, and used the display to check for terrain hazards. Subjects preferred the highest available horizontal resolution and 500 ft or 1,000 ft contour separation. Aircraft-relative terrain altitudes allowed faster hazard determination than altitudes relative to mean sea level.

Advances in avionics and display technology are significantly changing the cockpit environment in current transport aircraft. The MIT Aeronautical Systems Lab (ASL) has developed a part-task flight simulator specifically to study the effects of these new technologies on flight crew situational awareness and performance. The simulator is based on a commercially-available graphics workstation, and can be rapidly reconfigured to meet the varying demands of experimental studies. The simulator has been successfully used to evaluate graphical microburst alerting displays, electronic instrument approach plates, terrain awareness and alerting displays, and ATC routing amendment delivery through digital datalinks.

Air/ground digital datalink communications are an integral component of the FAA's Air Traffic Control (ATC) modernization strategy. With the introduction of datalink into the ATC system, there is concern over the potential loss of situational awareness by flight crews due to the reduction in the “party line” information available to the pilot. “Party line” information is gleaned by flight crews overhearing communications between ATC and other aircraft. In the datalink environment, party line information may not be available due to the use of discrete addressing. Information concerning the importance, availability, and accuracy of party line elements was explored through an opinion survey of active air carrier flight crews. The survey identified numerous important party line elements. These elements were scripted into a full-mission flight simulation.