Design of cockpit displays for limited delegation of separation assurance

The Evolutionary Air-ground Co-operative ATM Concepts (EACAC) study of the FREER-FLIGHT project investigates the delegation, by the controller to the pilot, of some tasks related to separation assurance. Starting from the analogy of visual clearances, EACAC investigates the possibility of giving electronic clearances in managed airspace. One of the issues of the study deals with the appropriate assistance scheme to be provided to the pilot, considering the proposed concept of limited delegation. An initial design work has been done, leading to the definition of key elements for cockpit displays: three different levels of assistance are identified, with different representations. All these options will be evaluated by pilots, first through a cockpit environment in a stand-alone mode (end 1999), and then using a cockpit simulator in a real-time simulation with controllers (mid 2000).