Human Factors Survey of Aviation Technical Manuals, Phase 1: Manual Development Procedures

This report contains the results from Phase 1 of a three-phase research effort. Phase 1 examines aviation industry procedures for developing maintenance technical data. Phase 2 will document user problems with maintenance technical data. Phase 3 will identify maintenance technical data development improvements by applying human factors principles. Five aircraft manufacturers were surveyed regarding company policy, communication, data tracking, user feedback, and error reduction efforts. The five industry participants represent both regional and large commercial transport manufacturers. Phase 1 survey results revealed three significant maintenance technical data issues: inconsistent development process guidelines, reactive rather than proactive response to user feedback, and inadequate assessment of errors involving usability as opposed to accuracy. Phase 1 results will later be compared to Phase 2 surveys of user problems with maintenance technical data to identify the impact of development procedures on the users perception of manual quality