An empirical evaluation of computer-based tools to aid in enroute flight planning

Alternative versions of a system to aid in en route flight planning have been implemented in the Flight Planning Testbed (FPT), which is a part-task simulation environment for studying interactions with tools and for testing design concepts. FPT presents scenarios and records all interactions with operators for subsequent analysis or replay. Thirty commercial airline pilots participated in an experiment involving three alternative system designs and four flight replanning scenarios. Subject behaviors on two of those four cases are contrasted, and the effects of different design concepts on planning behaviors are highlighted