Relationship of Complexity Factor Ratings with Operational Errors

Civil Aerospace Medical Institute2007PDFTech ReportPfleiderer, Elaine M.Manning, Carol A.Goldman, ScottUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation. Civil Aerospace Medical InstituteUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation. Office of Aerospace MedicineUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation. Civil Aerospace Medical InstituteUnited StatesAir traffic controlAircraftAirportsEigenvaluesRegression analysisOperational errorscomplexityStatic Sector CharacteristicsDynamic Sector CharacteristicsSubjective RatingsDOT/FAA/AM-07/11Public DomainThis study is an examination of the extent to which objective static sector characteristics and controller ratings of static and dynamic sector complexity factors contributed to the occurrence of operational errors (OEs) at the Indianapolis air route traffic control center (ZID). A multiple regression model of the relationship between a combination of static sector characteristics (sector altitude strata and sector size) resulted in a modest prediction of the variance in OE incidence (R = .70, R2 = .49). Sector size was negatively related to OEs, indicating that smaller sectors were associated with more OEs. Sector strata were positively related to OEs, indicating that higher altitude sectors were associated with more OEs. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of the complexity ratings produced four components with eigenvalues >1.00, accounting for 62% of the variance in the data. Components were used as predictors in a multiple regression analysis of the number of OEs in the ZID sectors. Only Component 1 (climbing and descending aircraft in the vicinity of major airports) and Component 2 (services provided to non-towered airports) contributed significantly to the total proportion of variance explained by the model (R = .78, R2 = .61). Component 2 shared an inverse relationship with the number of OEs, indicating that the complexity related to providing services to non-towered airports is associated with fewer OEs. These results will be used to guide the choice of objective measures for further analysis of the influence of static and dynamic sector characteristics in the occurrence of OEs.121