Matching Items (32)
Description
The purpose of this research was to determine if students who are enrolled in a professional flight program exhibit significantly higher rates of depression, stress, and anxiety. This study compared professional flight students to non-professional flight students to determine whether professional flight students have higher rates of depression and anxiety. In addition, this study sought to determine if there were higher depression, anxiety, and stress levels in upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) than in lowerclassmen (freshman and sophomore). Finally, upperclassmen and underclassmen within professional flight programs were compared to test if upperclassmen professional flight students exhibit higher rates for depression, anxiety and stress. These groups were compared to each other by using a survey that measures depression, anxiety, and stress. There were no statistically significant results. No singular group is more or less prone to depression, anxiety, or stress.
ContributorsJacobs, Destry (Author) / Niemczyk, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Thesis advisor) / Nullmeyer, Robert (Committee member) / Cline, Paul (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
In the U.S., less than 20 percent of wildlife strikes are reported, which leaves a large portion of incidents unaccounted for. Although wildlife strikes at airports often go unreported, since the early 1990's the number of wildlife strikes has increased five-fold and the number of damaging strikes has increased 1.5-fold. Goals for this project include determining if biological and landscape variables are good predictors of wildlife strikes. We define response variables as the number of reported wildlife strikes per 10,000 airport operations. We studied seven major airports around Phoenix, Arizona and 30 large airports in the western U.S. In the Phoenix metro valley, airports varied from having 0.3 strikes per year per 10,000 operations to having 14.5 strikes from 2009 to 2013. We determined bird richness by using the citizen-science database "eBird,"and measured species richness within a 15 kilometer area of each airport. Species richness between hotspots ranged from 131 to 320. Seasonal differences were determined using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis for the seven Phoenix metro airports as well as the 30 western U.S. airports. Our results showed that there was a seasonal difference in wildlife strikes in the majority of our airports. We also used land use data from CAP LTER to determine any environmental factors such as vicinity to water or fence line located within five kilometers from airports using ArcGIS. These results are important because they are helpful in determining the factors influencing wildlife strikes based on the number of strikes reported.
ContributorsSalaki, Logan (Co-author) / Montgomery, Brett (Co-author) / Bateman, Heather (Thesis director) / Niemczyk, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
My project analyzes the air traffic control tower (ATCT) system of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to determine if a rebalancing of ATCT ownership and operation should occur. The government currently faces a problem of a tight financial budget and sequestration, which often times means mandatory budget cuts. This project provides one possible solution for the FAA to save money in their budget without adversely affecting safety. The FAA could establish appropriate criteria to compare all ATCTs. The FAA could then apply these criteria in a policy that would contract the operation of certain low-level ATCTs and conversely handle the operations at high-activity ATCTs. Additionally, the FAA could include a policy to transfer the ownership of certain low-activity towers, but transfer the ownership of high-activity towers to the FAA. The research was completed by studying various documents from the FAA, Department of Transportation (DOT), and industry groups. Most of the data analysis was conducted by creating tables, queries, and graphs from FAA data. The FAA data was found on their Air Traffic Activity Data System (ATADS). From my data analysis, I was able to identify sixty-nine ATCTs that are currently operated by the FAA that could become federal contract towers (FCT) and forty-six FCTs that could be operated by the FAA. Each FCT saves the FAA approximately $1.488 million, so the FAA could save $34.2 million per year by implementing my solutions. I have also established sample criteria for determining which ATCTs could be maintained by the FAA.
ContributorsJuri, William Joseph (Author) / Denny, Casey (Thesis director) / Niemczyk, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Technological Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
This paper documents the work completed as part of the graduation requirements from Barrett, The Honors College. My project focused on researching, organizing, and presenting information to other ASU aviation students for the purpose of guiding them in how to effectively search for internships. My internship experiences led to a full-time job offer and this project aims to help provide other aviation students with the same opportunities.
ContributorsSmith, Ashley Nicole (Author) / Niemczyk, Mary (Thesis director) / Latham, Verne (Committee member) / Aviation Programs (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Airports are a vital part of the United States' transportation infrastructure. A variety of factors impact the amount of aircraft that an airport can handle per hour. One of these factors is the runway capacity. Strict rules regarding the amount of separation required between two aircraft landing at the same airport and lack of available land limit the ways that airport managers and planners can tackle this problem. Research was conducted at the Arizona State University's Simulator Building using the Adacel Tower Simulation System. Modifications to the airport were then made to simulate the high speed exit. Testing utilized aircraft in the large category, including Airbus A320s, which are regularly seen at the airport. Airport capacity dramatically increased as a result. The previous AAR was 33. With the research conducted, aircraft can exit the runway between 27 and 30 seconds with final approach speeds ranging from 130 knots to 150 knots. To allow for a margin for safety, a 35 second runway occupancy time is used. With that rate, assuming that other separation standards are changed to accommodate that traffic level, the runway AAR increases to approximately 100. To reach this potential, changes to the FAAs separation requirements for aircraft on the same final approach course must be made, to allow aircraft to be closer together.
ContributorsRojas, Jorge Alejandro (Author) / Niemczyk, Mary (Thesis director) / Mandeville, Roger (Committee member) / Aviation Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
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
Civilian and military use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) has significantly increased in recent years. Specifically, the United States Air Force (USAF) has an insatiable demand for RPA operations, that are responsible for fulfilling critical demands in every theater 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (United States Air Force, 2015). Around the clock operations have led to a manning shortage of RPA pilots in the USAF. The USAF MQ-9 “Reaper” Weapons School trains tactical experts and leaders of Airmen skilled in the art of integrated battle-space dominance (United States Air Force, 2015). Weapons Officers for the MQ-9 platform are also critically under-manned, with only 17% of allocated slots filled (B. Callahan, personal communication, January 28, 2016). Furthermore, the leading cause of training attrition has been attributed to lack of critical thinking and problem solving skills (B. Callahan, personal communication, January 28, 2016); skills not directly screened for prior to entering the RPA pilot career field. The proposed study seeks to discover patterns of student behaviors in the brief and debrief process in Weapons School, with the goal of identifying the competencies that distinguish the top students in Weapons School.
ContributorsDriggs, Jade B (Author) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Thesis advisor) / Niemczyk, Mary (Committee member) / Roscoe, Rod (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This thesis explores the human factors effects pilots have when controlling the aircraft during the takeoff phase of flight. These variables come into play in the transitory phase from ground roll to flight, and in the initiation of procedures to abort a takeoff during the ground run. The FAA provides regulations for manufacturers and operators to follow, ensuring safe manufacture of aircraft and pilots that fly without endangering the passengers; however, details regarding accounting of piloting variability are lacking. Creation of a numerical simulation allowed for the controlled variation of isolated piloting procedures in order to evaluate effects on field performance. Reduced rotation rates and delayed reaction times were found to cause significant increases in field length requirements over values published in the AFM. A pilot survey was conducted to evaluate common practices for line pilots in the field, which revealed minimum regulatory compliance is exercised with little to no feedback on runway length requirements. Finally, observation of pilots training in a CRJ-200 FTD gathered extensive information on typical piloting timings in the cockpit. AEO and OEI takeoffs were observed, as well as RTOs. Pilots showed large variability in procedures and timings resulting in significant inconsistency in runway distances used as well as V-speed compliance. The observed effects from pilot timing latency correlated with the numerical simulation increased field length outputs. Variability in piloting procedures results in erratic field performance that deviates from AFM published values that invite disaster in an aircraft operating near its field performance limitations.
ContributorsWood, Donald L (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy T (Thesis advisor) / Niemczyk, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Files, Greg (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
To ensure safety is not precluded in the event of an engine failure, the FAA has
established climb gradient minimums enforced through Federal Regulations.
Furthermore, to ensure aircraft do not accidentally impact an obstacle on takeoff due to
insufficient climb performance, standard instrument departure procedures have their own
set of climb gradient minimums which are typically more than those set by Federal
Regulation. This inconsistency between climb gradient expectations creates an obstacle
clearance problem: while the aircraft has enough climb gradient in the engine inoperative
condition so that basic flight safety is not precluded, this climb gradient is often not
strong enough to overfly real obstacles; this implies that the pilot must abort the takeoff
flight path and reverse course back to the departure airport to perform an emergency
landing. One solution to this is to reduce the dispatch weight to ensure that the aircraft
retains enough climb performance in the engine inoperative condition, but this comes at
the cost of reduced per-flight profits.
An alternative solution to this problem is the extended second segment (E2S)
climb. Proposed by Bays & Halpin, they found that a C-130H gained additional obstacle
clearance performance through this simple operational change. A thorough investigation
into this technique was performed to see if this technique can be applied to commercial
aviation by using a model A320 and simulating multiple takeoff flight paths in either a
calm or constant wind condition. A comparison of takeoff flight profiles against real
world departure procedures shows that the E2S climb technique offers a clear obstacle
clearance advantage which a scheduled four-segment flight profile cannot provide.
established climb gradient minimums enforced through Federal Regulations.
Furthermore, to ensure aircraft do not accidentally impact an obstacle on takeoff due to
insufficient climb performance, standard instrument departure procedures have their own
set of climb gradient minimums which are typically more than those set by Federal
Regulation. This inconsistency between climb gradient expectations creates an obstacle
clearance problem: while the aircraft has enough climb gradient in the engine inoperative
condition so that basic flight safety is not precluded, this climb gradient is often not
strong enough to overfly real obstacles; this implies that the pilot must abort the takeoff
flight path and reverse course back to the departure airport to perform an emergency
landing. One solution to this is to reduce the dispatch weight to ensure that the aircraft
retains enough climb performance in the engine inoperative condition, but this comes at
the cost of reduced per-flight profits.
An alternative solution to this problem is the extended second segment (E2S)
climb. Proposed by Bays & Halpin, they found that a C-130H gained additional obstacle
clearance performance through this simple operational change. A thorough investigation
into this technique was performed to see if this technique can be applied to commercial
aviation by using a model A320 and simulating multiple takeoff flight paths in either a
calm or constant wind condition. A comparison of takeoff flight profiles against real
world departure procedures shows that the E2S climb technique offers a clear obstacle
clearance advantage which a scheduled four-segment flight profile cannot provide.
ContributorsBeard, John Eng Hui (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy T (Thesis advisor) / White, Daniel (Committee member) / Niemczyk, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
September 11th, 2001 was a day that affected everyone. The world came to a stop. The aviation industry was affected, and the national airspace system was closed for a few days. The events that occurred on that specific day enacted changes that affect the industry to this day. This paper analyzes some of the changes that were made and discusses some of the changes the industry is going through again, about 20 years after the events on September 11th. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we all live our daily lives and aviation is not exempt. Changes to aircraft cleaning procedures, boarding processes, and seat design have all been ways the industry has gone through changes. The results of a potential recovery as well as the long-term changes are discussed.
ContributorsPomerantz, Spencer (Author) / Niemczyk, Mary (Thesis director) / Pearson, Michael (Committee member) / Aviation Programs (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / Human Systems Engineering (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05