New roles for aeronautical charts through electronic display media

It is anticipated that among the next developments on the flight deck will be the replacement of paper aeronautical charts with electronically depicted charts. Aeronautical charts that are stored in a digital format will be easily updated and disseminated by the chart manufacturers and easily installed by pilots. Additionally, the use of electronic displays will make new information available to pilots and will result in new uses for aeronautical charts. The switch from paper to electronic charts poses several technical hurdles, particularly in the area of human factors, which must be overcome in order to achieve a safe and effective charting system in the cockpit. This paper details some of the obstacles to the development of the paperless cockpit as well as some of the expected benefits to be gained from electronic charting systems.