UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOR IS THE PATH TO SAFETY

Aviation designers continue to advance the capability, usability, and safety of modern helicopters. Airbus Helicopters’ latest innovation, Helionix is a revolutionary flight control display system. There are many aspects of the system which improve a pilot’s ability to excise 100% of the helicopters potential in a reliable and safe manner. However, presently I wish to focus on one aspect of the system. I believe that the Part Time Display Concept embedded within Helionix a is a giant leap forward in the safety of Airbus helicopters!

Humans are very poor at detecting change, especially if the change occurs gradually, or during a period when their minds are otherwise engaged. Many of us have fallen victim to this very human foible. Perhaps you have looked directly at an engine oil pressure gauge and failed to grasp its indication…or what it was displaying only a few minutes earlier? You looked, but did not see. Or possibly you have found yourself in a situation where you were distracted at the very moment you needed to accomplish an important task…like crossing the outer marker inbound on the ILS and failed to extend your landing gear because immediately prior to reaching for the gear handle you were contacted by Air Traffic Control and asked to reduce your speed for slower traffic ahead. Change Blindness (CB) and Inattentional Blindness (IB) are very real and persistent problems for all humans, but may have grave consequences for pilots. Pilots must be prepared to accomplish multiple tasks, sometimes in very quick succession. And while each task may not stand alone as vital, they may combine (through sequence or magnitude) and form a synergistic effect. Fortunately, the result(s) of these synergies are often relatively innocuous. However, sometimes they are fatal.

Until recently, helicopter cockpits have been bursting with switches, gauges, and annunciators. Each one designed to immediately capture, or continually maintain, the attention of the pilot. Unfortunately, the pilot simply cannot sustain such vigilance on so many competing items. Thus, we may miss something in plain view, or suffer a distraction at precisely the wrong moment which redirects our attention away from something important.

So how does the Part Time Display Concept help solve our predisposition to CB and IB? Simply put, this design concept allows the pilot to maintain his or her focus on the mission without sacrificing aircraft systems awareness or safety. In fact, the design improves both awareness and safety. During flight, Helionix continually monitors the aircraft systems and will immediately inform the pilot when/if any vehicle or engine parameter(s) are out of range, or trending out of range. The pilot need not monitor, or for that matter even see, parameters such as oil pressures or temperatures, torque, TOT, NG, etc. Should there be an issue with any parameter which is not displayed, Helionix will notify the pilot via an appropriate message within the message zone of the FND (Flight and Nav Display). The concept is not only brilliant…but it is effective! The mere fact that you have a message in an area where nothing is normally displayed captures your attention. We no longer must sort through a myriad of indications to determine the health of the helicopter. In fact, this concept is a natural progression of the FLI (First Limit Indicator) which allows the pilot to see his/her power in a glance.

As we seek to reduce accidents we must look beyond simple human factors. I believe that we have merely scratched the surface of our understanding of the human mind and how it interfaces with the outside world. Airbus engineers are improving the performance and safety of our helicopters by continuing to focus on the man within the machine.