Communication Threats for Air Traffic Controllers

Regarding input tools, the use of the mouse has to be questioned. Both speed and precision of input are more difficult to achieve for older controllers when they have to make these using a mouse (e.g., avoid double-clicking functions).

Human-Machine Interface (HMI) issues should be carefully considered: font size, the use of colour screens and contrasts on the screen are crucial features in the context of aging. Other HMI issues like usability are also important.

In general, it would be an advantage to involve a representative sample of older controllers in the design phase of new equipment. This should be done not only to achieve the commitment of this group for the final product but also, and mainly; for the sake of improving the product.

The input of experienced controllers can be of great value. It may also help to capture the positive side of aging (i.e., gains due to experience). A smart approach to system design would build this experience into the system.

Ageing offers a challenge for ATM. This challenge cannot be ignored. Older employees are the most valuable resource of a company. It would be extremely short-sighted to force these employees out of the ops room.

If older controllers stopped passing their experience onto their younger colleagues, the overall level of performance in an ops room would suffer. On the other hand, each controller has to be aware of his or her own limits. The objective is to create a cooperative climate in the ops rooms, in which it is possible to admit one’s own limits.

The younger controllers of today will be the older controllers of tomorrow. In a few years’ time, the service providers will have to face the same aging-linked problems. Acting and optimising the situation of older controllers now is the best investment in the future.

The human factors problems associated with the introduction of new equipment can be expected to be even more pronounced for older users. Interface issues and workload impacts should be carefully considered. Technological change bears the danger of outdating expertise. The design of new systems should facilitate the transfer of expertise from the old to the new system. y This article is extracted from two articles: 1.) "Age, Experience and Automation in European Air Traffic Control, EUROCONTROL" and 2.) "Age, Experience and Automation in European Air Traffic Control - Survey in the ECAC Area, EUROCONTROL."

zBy Umi Muthiah Syahirah, A.Md., S.I.Kom, ACC from Makassar Air Traffic Service

Did you ever experience an error response after transmitting an instruction or information? Not only does an error response to ATC transmissions increase the workload on the controller, but it may lead them to directly and indirectly make a threat.

Threats are known as incidents or mistakes that occur outside the reach of the air traffic controller's influence, increase operational complexity, and must be controlled to maintain safety margins. To handle traffic, air traffic controllers have to take into account different contextual nuances during typical ATC operations.

Because of time pressure and airspace constraints, the effect of increased traffic is likely to be most noticeable in the airspace surrounding major metropolitan areas (Zingale, Truitt & McAnulty, 2008). The phases of flight that take place near airports (i.e., departures and arrivals) will be those with the most time pressure and the highest workload for pilots and controllers. These phases can also have the highest potential for multiple viewpoints and contradictory priorities. For instance, ATC will need to concentrate on efficiency and operating speed for all aircraft, while pilots may be focused on navigating their own aircraft safely through congested traffic. These different viewpoints may, in turn, lead to operational disputes and various ideas for the physical positioning of a given aircraft.

DIFFERENT INFORMATION: In current operations, flight crews collect information mainly from on-board radar, automated data messages such as the Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS), and ground communications. ATC highly depends on ground-based information sources, radar displays, and communications with flight crews. Each of these sources has a view of its own viewpoint and a rate of update.

ASSESSMENT: Although when pilots and ATC share this very same knowledge, cognitive conflict can occur if it is not translated in the same way. For example, different interpretations of instructions or information on winds, storms, wake vortex behaviour, and so on can recommend a variety of courses of action. Flight crews may also differ from ATC in their assessment of the value or danger of clearance or action; As if they were asked to expedite the takeoff or to reduce the space behind another aircraft.

AND “ACCENTED ENGLISH”: The fact that both parties make errors in their transmissions illustrates the continuing difficulty of good communication in the aviation field. In the case of native English speakers, provided that they have committed omissions rather than errors, the difficulties tend to be to

z Image: Average number (and standard error) of communication errors committed per transmission by native English sounding pilots and accented pilots

Source: Qiong Wu, 2019

remember (or understand and recall) what elements need to be read back or stick to the protocol.

In conclusion, communication threats are established when flight crews and ATC base their aircraft plans on various viewpoints, goals, sources, versions of information, or perceive circumstances differently. The ASRS reports examined in this study indicate that the final phases of the flight are especially conducive to communication breakdowns, partly as a result of modifications or renegotiation of flight paths to the ground. Meanwhile, Estival and Molesworth (2016) have found a correlation between workload and communication errors in general aviation. Likely, the variations in the workload between the two phases of flight in the current study were not sufficient to cause errors.

In particular, various interpretations of information (e.g., weather and traffic) from different sources on the consequences for secure and efficient operations will continue to emerge. Teamwork partnerships between aircrews and ATC would be necessary to prevent such threats and errors. The data also indicate that the status of the operator affects contact and coordination between the flight crews and the ATC.

The explanation for such omissions remains unclear but may include: workload, time constraint, or indifference to the protocol. In the case of omissions and errors, the difficulties seem to include both remembering which things need to be read back and ensuring a correct read-back. Whether the explanations for these errors are identical for both parties is a field for future research.

Although the findings of the present study confirm earlier studies showing that Native English pilots are not immune from communication errors (Alderson, 2009; Nevile & Walker, 2005), they also indicate that as indicated in those studies, accented speakers appear to be more challenged by Aviation English. The results of this study show that they make more overall transmission errors than native English sounding pilots, but also that the type of error they make is different. The accented pilots made mistakes, while the native English sounding pilots made only omissions, and the accented pilots made more word errors than the native English sounding pilots, while the two classes made equal numbers of numerical errors. The flight phase and the recorded higher levels of workload during the approach and landing phase did not result in a higher number of errors compared to the departure phase. These are both recent findings that can help to enhance communication in commercial aviation.

An error-free communication in aviation remains, after all, an elusive target. y

• Estival, D., Farris, C., & Molesworth, B. R. C. (2016). Conclusions and future research. In Aviation English: A Lingua Franca for pilots and air traffic controllers (pp. 182–192). New York: NY: Routledge. • Estival., D., & Molesworth, B. R. C. (2012). Radio miscommunication: EL2 pilots in the Australian general aviation environment. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 5(3), 351– 378. doi:10.1558/lhs. v5i3.351 • Estival, D., & Molesworth, B. R. C. (2016). Native English speakers and EL2 pilots: An experimental study. In Aviation English: A lingua franca for pilots and air traffic controllers (pp. 140–181). New York: NY: Routledge. • Mosier, Kathleen L. et.al. 2012. Pilot–ATC Communication Conflicts: Implications for NextGen. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, DOI: 10.1080/10508414.2013.799350 • Nevile, M., & Walker, M. B. (2005). Analysis of crew conversations provides insights for accident investigation. Flight Safety Digest, 24(10), 1–17. • Qiong Wu, Brett R. C. Molesworth & Dominique Estival (2019): An Investigation into the Factors that Affect Miscommunication between Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers in Commercial Aviation, The International Journal of Aerospace Psychology, DOI: 10.1080/24721840.2019.16041