Context and Situation
Normal Electronic Checklists (ECL) guide the flight crew through the steps needed to configure the flight deck for normal operations. Procedurally, these steps are arranged to align with phases of flight, and represent an ordered and intuitive representation of the tasks to be competed. Accordingly, the ECL is a sequence of checklists that can often be presented, automated, and linked to stages of flight. Exhibit 1 provides a representative example for the Boeing 747-400 aircraft.
By contrast, Non-Normal Checklists (NNC) provide step-by-step instructions to configure the flight deck in accordance with a given form of failure. Their purpose is specifically “to contain, isolate deteriorating systems, to restore system functionality, and to avoid any hazardous situations.” By contract to normal checklists, there is no way to know what failure might occur when during flight, so failure types are ordinarily arranged by aircraft technical domain, and accordingly need to be called up based on the issue presented by a warning light, status alert, or pilot experience. Exhibit 2 shows such a domain listing based on the Airbus 320 family.
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Purpose of this technical note
This note suggests that the usability of domain-based non-normal checklists can be enhanced by enabling pilots to select specific checklists and pre-assign them to phases of flight according to criteria pilots deem most relevant. For example, pilots might select and pre-program to specific phases checklists for one or more of the following reasons:
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Specific skill support. A pilot might choose to load a checklist selection for access in a specific chapter of flight to backstop skills he or she may believe need honing or extra flight hours to master.
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Anticipation of expected conditions. During any flight, weather aloft, traffic conditions, or aircraft performance factors influence what the flight crew anticipates may occur during flight. If specific expected conditions might precipitate the use of non-normal procedures, this can be anticipated by selecting and pre-loading normal or non-normal procedures as desired.
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Potential for multiple or hybrid checklist use. Checklists do not ordinarily accommodate being linked to enable the execution of different procedures in a selected sequence. Procedures that would immediately be followed by another procedure – normal, non-normal or hybrid – would be facilitated by loading and accessing them in their logically-arranged sequence, even though they may not be organized that way in the normal course. For example, the following sequence would be expected in the case of a fire warning leading to an emergency landing soon after takeoff. The numbers refer to the Airbus checklist example (N=Normal checklist, NN-non-normal checklist):
Executing this sequence of procedures involves five distinct checklists, including both non-normal and normal procedures.
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Readiness for unexpected conditions. Because non-normal procedures are so rarely used, selecting and pre-loading them can be prudent even if conditions do not suggest an indicated need. This can be especially helpful to less experienced pilots who may take longer to identify the correct response to a given contingency, and less skilled in managing the use of multiple and hybrid checklists.
The role of AIRTracker™
AIRTracker is a cockpit instrument that enables flight crews to select and pre-load any combination of normal and/or non-normal ECL procedures during any selected phase of flight. AIRTracker is based on patented Matched Array technology that enables any combination of relevant flight controls to be aligned and set during any phase of flight to reduce pilot workload and enable more precise flight.
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AIRTracker is an especially relevant innovation in the face of three modern aviation challenges: First, increasingly advanced technology aboard commercial aircraft requires intense awareness and interpretation at the same time it can lull flight crews into a sense of safety and control. Second, sophisticated global navigation and communication systems generate volumes of data and interactions that workload-challenged pilots must always be attuned to. Finally, the rapid growth of aviation is generating an uncommonly high volume of pilots with have little real flight experience and limited exposure to the range of flight situations that build vital “stick and rudder” skills.
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Potential benefits
Being able to load non-normal checklists to specific phases of flight has several benefits:
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First, it saves precious response time. In emergency or especially challenging situations, preloading logical ECL combinations so they are immediately available can cut response time, because it can truncate the look-up, selection, and tracking process encountered in emergency situations.
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Second, it heightens awareness of the non-normal checklist, which can, because it is so rarely used, become less familiar and less accessible when needed.
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Finally, it engages pilot attention during cruise. Selecting and pre-loading non-normal checklist procedures to different phases of flight can be performed during periods of low workload when pilot attention is not distracted. Conversely, such engagement during long cruise flights helps maintain pilot attention, and when emergencies do occur, can help alleviate high pilot stress.
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In an environment in which pilots are increasingly taxed – even as aircraft become ever more technically sophisticated, AIRTracker offers a workload-reducing capability that can help pilots when they need it most.