Air traffic control system management

Abstract

The airspace system's capacity and safety are highly dependent on the skilled coordination of air traffic control (ATC) and flight desk personnel. With the rapid progress in satellite-based navigation technology and the automation system in the flight desk, some researchers suggest increasing the level of automation in ATC for the purpose of meeting the safety and efficiency requirement. But on the other side, another issue that has to be considered is that the keep increasing automation level will limit the ATC controller's margin and they cannot effectively monitor the ATC procedure at some point. This could be dangerous when the automation system failure or unpredicted environmental disturbances occur. The role of human factors in ATC has been carefully discussed and examined in the past and some current human factor issues continue to reflect the technological progress. As a consequence of these concerns, in fall 1994, the National Research Council established the Panel on Human Factors in Air Traffic Control Automation for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).