Factors for Pilot's Decision Making Process to Avoid Severe Weather during Enroute and Approach

Abstract

In some regions of the world, severe weather conditions such as convection cells are one of the biggest challenges in commercial aviation. This phenomenon, also commonly known as thundercloud, is a main safety risk and can require circumnavigation, disrupting air traffic flow, increasing delays, and lowering cost-efficiency. Consequently, Air Traffic Management (ATM) requires innovative solutions for avoiding severe weather during flight. The process of circumnavigation can be improved by implementing computer-based controller and pilot support systems. Since the diversion should be designed in a way that pilots and controllers would choose their routes accordingly to their training and experience, calculating it poses a particular challenge. In the paper, we examined the pilot's decision-making process when encountering extreme weather conditions on the planned trajectory. The aim of the description is to gain an understanding of the process by describing relevant factors, as well as the pilot's interaction and prioritization of the tasks. The research's findings indicate that the decision on how to avoid convective weather is based on a variety of individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors.