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Description
The Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program was mandated legislatively, as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. This study replicated earlier research that investigated pilots’ opinions of the current state of the FFDO program based on interviews. A Likert survey was created to allow simpler quantitative collection and analysis of opinions from large groups of pilots. A total of 43 airline pilots participated in this study. Responses to the Likert questions were compared with demographics, searching for significance through a Pearson chi-square test and frequencies were compared to earlier research findings. Significant chi-square results showed that those familiar with the program were more likely to agree the program should continue, it was effective, the screening and selection process of program applicants was adequate and the Federal Air Marshal Service’s management of the FFDO program was effective. Those with Military experience were more likely to disagree it was reasonable that FFDOs were required to pay for their own room and board during training or train on their own time. All those who shared an opinion agreed there should be a suggestion medium between FFDOs and their management. Unlike the prior study, all those familiar with the program agreed the weapons transportation and carriage procedures were adequate. Furthermore, all those who shared an opinion found the holster locking mechanism adequate, which was another reversal of opinion from the prior study. Similar to the prior study, pilots unanimously agree FFDOs were well trained and agreed that the program was effective and should continue.
ContributorsFerrara, Marc, M.S (Author) / Niemczyk, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Nullmeyer, Robert (Committee member) / Branaghan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This study examined the impact of Situation Presence Assessment Method (SPAM) administration on air traffic control (ATC) students’ task workload and performance in high-fidelity ATC simulations. ATC students performed high-fidelity en-route simulations in two conditions: baseline conditions (without SPAM questions) and SPAM conditions. The data collected show that while workload in the two conditions were not significantly different, there was a trend of higher mental workload in SPAM conditions than in baseline conditions. Performance immediately following SPAM questions was revealed to be poorer than that preceding the SPAM questions and that over the equivalent time periods in the baseline conditions. The results suggest that a "Ready" signal before a SPAM question may not be enough to eliminate the impact of SPAM administration on ATC students’ workload and performance in high-fidelity en-route simulations.
ContributorsZhang, Chao, M.S (Author) / Niemczyk, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Pearson, Michael (Committee member) / Nullmeyer, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
There are significantly higher rates of pilot error events during surface operations at night than during the day. Events include incidents, accidents, wrong surface takeoffs and landings, hitting objects, turning on the wrong taxiway, departing the runway surface, among others. There is evidence to suggest that these events are linked to situational awareness. Improvements to situational awareness can be accomplished through training to instruct pilots to increase attention outside of the cockpit while taxiing at night. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) night time requirements are relatively low to obtain a private pilot certification. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of flight training experience on conducting safe and incident-free surface operations at night, collect pilot opinions on night training requirements and resources, and analyze the need for night time on flight reviews. A survey was distributed to general aviation pilots and 239 responses were collected to be analyzed. The responses indicated a higher observed incident rate at night than during the day, however there were no significant effects of night training hours or type of training received (Part 61, Part 141/142, or both) on incident rate. Additionally, higher total night hours improved pilot confidence at night and decreased incident rate. The overall opinions indicated that FAA resources on night flying were effective in providing support, but overall pilots were not in support of or against adding night time requirements to flight reviews and found night training requirements to be somewhat effective.
ContributorsWhittard, Megan (Author) / Niemczyk, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Nullmeyer, Robert (Committee member) / Hampshire, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020