Conflict monitoring in air traffic control

This paper reviews two laboratory experiments where the subject made anticipatory decisions about which aircraft would conflict (their separation would reach a critical threshold) on a simulated air traffic control display. Decision response and eye gaze data were analyzed and correlated. Results of a first experiment point to the inability of the human operator to visually ignore aircraft which are seen to converge on a plan view, even if they are obviously at very different altitudes; or aircraft which are moving as a group even though maintaining separation. In the second experiment we studied the effects of predictive warnings, of differing reliabilities and different timing on both anticipation decisions and eye movements. Results showed that the early warning directed visual attention to the pair of targets, but did not elicit responses unless it was entirely reliable. Detection of collisions was not affected by the timing of the warning, but only by the reliability of the warning system. However, visual search patterns differed markedly between early and late warnings. Copyright (C) 2001 IFAC.