ABSTRACT

Airborne spacing for sequencing purposes was investigated from the flight deck perspective in a real time experiment. The objective was to assess the impact of initial conditions on the spacing task performance. Pilots’ feedback was positive in terms of perceived benefits and task efficiency. The spacing task was achieved successfully despite a (still acceptable) workload increase. The initial spacing had no impact on flight crews’ activity (assessed through manual speed adjustments). To broaden the activity analysis and to get an objective assessment of the impact of the spacing task on situation awareness, the next experiment will include the investigation of pilots’ monitoring activity.