Toward single pilot operations

Joel Lachter, Vernol Battiste, Michael Matessa, Quang V. Dao, Robert Koteskey, Walter W. Johnson
2014 Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in Aerospace - HCI-Aero '14  
Since the 1950s, the crew required to fly transport category aircraft has been reduced from five to two. NASA is currently exploring the feasibility of a further reduction to one pilot. In this study we examine the effects of separating the pilots on crew interaction. The results are consistent with earlier research on decision-making between remote groups. Pilots strongly prefer face-to-face interactions; however, we could find no impact of separation on their ultimate decisions. There were a
more » ... umber of areas in which separation negatively affected communications. We discuss possible mitigations for these areas. Keywords Single pilot operations (SPO), reduced-crew operations, teleconferencing.
doi:10.1145/2669592.2669695 fatcat:2vfs5zzk5jcjres4xyomhdtesy