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Inflight application of three pilot workload measurement techniques
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine
|May 1, 1987
Summary
Pilot workload during NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory missions was assessed using communications, subjective ratings, and heart rate. Findings indicate workload peaks during takeoff and landing, correlating with stress and effort, but not mission duration or fatigue.
Area of Science:
- Aviation Psychology
- Human Factors Engineering
- Aerospace Medicine
Background:
- Assessing crew workload is critical for flight safety and mission success.
- The NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) provided a unique platform for studying workload in a routine operational environment.
- Understanding workload variations across different flight phases and crew roles is essential for optimizing crew performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate three distinct measures of crew workload: communications performance, subjective ratings, and heart rate.
- To identify factors contributing to workload variations among crew members.
- To examine the relationship between subjective workload perceptions and objective physiological and performance metrics.
Main Methods:
- Conducted 11 routine missions using the NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory.
- Collected data on communications frequency and type, subjective ratings of workload, stress, and effort, and continuous heart rate monitoring.
- Analyzed data across different flight segments (e.g., takeoff, landing) and crew roles (commander, copilot).
Main Results:
- Subjective workload, stress, and effort ratings were highly correlated between crew members and peaked during takeoff and landing.
- Subjective fatigue increased significantly from takeoff to landing, with a more pronounced increase for early morning landings.
- Heart rate was higher for the aircraft commander, with greater fluctuations during critical flight phases.
- Communications frequency varied significantly across flight segments, serving as an objective workload indicator.
- Subjective workload measures correlated with heart rate and communications frequency but not with mission duration or perceived performance.
Conclusions:
- Communications, subjective ratings, and heart rate are valid indicators of pilot workload in operational flight settings.
- Workload is not uniformly distributed across flight missions, with significant peaks during dynamic phases like takeoff and landing.
- While subjective ratings reflect overall crew workload, objective measures like heart rate and communications provide insights into role-specific demands.