ABSTRACT
Thebasisforaircraftflightdeckdesignistoenablethepilotstooperatethe aircraftinallforeseenconditionsandwithanexceptionalsafetyrecord.Inorder tomitigatetherisksoferrorsandmalfunctionsthatoriginateintheflightdeck, greateffortsaremadeinthedesign,evaluationandvalidationphasesoftheflight deckdesign.Thereareonlyaroundadozenmanufacturersintheworldtodaythat havethecapabilitytodevelopandmanufacturelargecommercialaircraft.Thisis duetothecomplexityoftheprocessandlargeinvestmentcombinedwiththehigh projectriskinvolved.Sincethedesignprocessrequiresqualitativeevaluationby highlyexperiencedandcompetentoperators,amanufacturerisobligedtohavea groupofspecialiststhataddressflightdeckdesignandevaluation.Thisgroup usuallyconsistsofflighttestengineers,testpilotsandsystemengineersthat togetherevaluatethedesignatdifferentstages,showthatitcomplieswiththe designcriteria,andthatitmeetsallotherrequirements.Inaddition,itisthetask ofthegrouptoevaluatethedesigninitsforeseenfutureoperationalenvironment andmakepredictionsastoitssafety.Theroleofthetestteam,andthetestpilots inparticular,istoperformthetaskeffectivelyandaseconomicallyaspossible, producingasafeandaffordableproduct.
