Human factors in air traffic control: a study of the ability of the human operator to predict dangerously close approaches between aircraft on simulated radar displays

The aim of this thesis was to investigate experimentally the ability of observers to make predictions of the future relative positions of aircraft on simulated radar displays, and to observe how this ability was affected by differences in the situation or in the types of simulation or observer. Two experiments are described, in which a carefully selected set of simulations was shown to groups of observers of differing experience. The first experiment used an elaborate radar simulator, in as close an approximation to normal operation as possible, the second used a simple paper simulation technique. A number of different types of decision were recorded, classified and analysed. It was found that there were few differences in the accuracy with which decisions were made, except those due to the nature of the situation. [Continues.]