RECORDING PILOT EYE MOVEMENT INFORMATION ON A DIGITAL FLIGHT DATA RECORDER

THE MODERN DIGITAL FLIGHT DATA RECORDER (DFDR) PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO CAPTURE IN-FLIGHT DATA NEVER POSSIBLE WITH THE OLDER ANALOG "TIN-FOIL" TYPE RECORDER. ADDITIONALLY, THE DFDR PERMITS SOPHISTICATED DATA REDUCTION AND CORRELATION OF NUMEROUS PARAMETERS. ALTHOUGH THE DRDR IS PRIMARILY ORIENTED TOWARD ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION, ITS HIGH CAPACITY EXTENDS ITS USEFULNESS BEYOND THAT INTO THE DOMAIN OF CREW PERFORMANCE, PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONCE, AND WORKLOAD ASSESSMENT. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS INNOVATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM ISTO INVESTIGATE THE CONCEPT OF COLLECTING DATA ON PILOT EYE RESPONCE USING AN OCULOMETER AND RECORDING THAT DATA ON THE DIGITAL FLIGHT DATA RECORDER FOR SUBSEQUENT ANALYSIS. THIS PRIMARY OBJECTIVE WILL BE MET BY EXAMINING THE FOUR ISSUES: (1) IS IT TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE TO COLLECT EYE MOVEMENT DATA IN A COCKPIT ENVIRONMENT USING AN OCULOMETER?; (2) IS THE MODERN DIGITAL FLIGHT DATA RECORDER CAPABLE OF RECORDING PROCESSED OCULOMETER DATA?; (3) HOW USEFUL IS PILOT EYE MOVEMENT DATA IN ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION OR RECONSTRUCTION?; (4) WHAT OTHER USES EXIST FOR DATA PILOT EYE MOVEMENT GATHERED DURING ACTUAL FLIGHT CONDUTIONS (E.G., WORKLOAD ANALYSIS, SCAN PATTERN ANALYSIS, RESPONSE TO VISUAL CUES)?