HUMAN FACTORS, 1987,29(4),371-382 Perspective Traffic Display Format and Airline Pilot Traffic Avoidance

Part-task experiments have examined perspective projections of cockpit displays of traffic information as a means of presenting aircraft separation information to airline pilots. Ten airline pilots served as subjects in an experiment comparing the perspective projection with plan-view projections of the same air traffic situations. The pilots ' task was to monitor the traffic display in order to decide if an avoidance maneuver was needed. Pilots took more time to select avoidance maneuvers with a conventional plan-view display than with an experimental perspective display. In contrast to previous results, if the pilots selected a ma-neuver with the perspective display, they were more likely to choose one with a vertical component. Tabulation of the outcomes of their initial avoidance decisions with both per-spective and plan-view displays showed that they were more likely to achieve required sepa-ration with maneuvers chosen with the aid of perspective displays