A Technical Analysis of Ergonomics and Human Factors in Modern Flight Deck Design

4030 Words9 Pages

I. Introduction

Since the dawn of the aviation era, cockpit design has become

increasingly complicated owing to the advent of new technologies enabling

aircraft to fly farther and faster more efficiently than ever before. With

greater workloads imposed on pilots as fleets modernize, the reality of he or

she exceeding the workload limit has become manifest. Because of the

unpredictable nature of man, this problem is impossible to eliminate completely.

However, the instances of occurrence can be drastically reduced by examining the

nature of man, how he operates in the cockpit, and what must be done by

engineers to design a system in which man and machine are ideally interfaced.

The latter point involves an in-depth analysis of system design with an emphasis

on human factors, biomechanics, cockpit controls, and display systems. By

analyzing these components of cockpit design, and determining which variables of

each will yield the lowest errors, a system can be designed in which the

Liveware-Hardware interface can promote safety and reduce mishap frequency.

II. The History Of Human Factors in Cockpit Design

The history of cockpit design can be traced as far back as the first

balloon flights, where a barometer was used to measure altitude. The Wright

brothers incorporated a string attached to the aircraft to indicate slips and

skids (Hawkins, 241). However, the first real efforts towards human factors

implementation in cockpit design began in the early 1930's. During this time,

the United States Postal Service began flying aircraft in all-weather missions

(Kane, 4:9). The greater reliance on instrumentation raised the question of

where to put each display and control. However, not much attention was being

focused on this area as engineers cared more about getting the instrument in the

cockpit, than about how it would interface with the pilot (Sanders & McCormick,

739).

In the mid- to late 1930's, the development of the first gyroscopic

instruments forced engineers to make their first major human factors-related

decision. Rudimentary situation indicators raised concern about whether the

displays should reflect the view as seen from inside the cockpit, having the

horizon move behind a fixed miniature airplane, or as it would be seen from

outside the aircraft. Until the end of World War I, aircraft were manufactured
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...anifest. The discussion of biomechanics in chapter three was purposely

broad, because it is such a wide and diverse field. The concepts touched upon

indicate the areas of concern that a designer must address before creating a

cockpit that is ergonomically friendly in the physical sense. Controls and

displays hold a little more relevance, because they are the fundamental control

and feedback devices involved in controlling the aircraft. These were discussed

in greater detail because many of those concepts never reach the conscious mind

of the operator. Although awareness of these factors is not critical to safe

aircraft operation, they do play a vital role in the subconscious mind of the

pilot during critical operational phases under high stress. Because of the

unpredictable nature of man, it would be foolish to assume a zero tolerance

environment to potential errors like these, but further investigation into the

design process, biomechanics, control and display devices may yield greater

insight as far as causal factors is concerned. Armed with this knowledge,

engineers can set out to build aircraft not only to transport people and

material, but also to save lives.

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