Effect of Pathway-in-the-sky and Synthetic Terrain Imagery on Situation Awareness in a Simulated Low-level Ingress Scenario

Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accidents continue to be a major source of loss of aircraft and aircrew in both military and civil aviation (Cooper, 1995; Miller, Price, and Darrah, 1987; Proctor, 1997). These accidents usually occur in reduced-visibility conditions, and with no prior awareness of impending collision on the part of the flight crew (Scott, 1996). While warning and automated collision avoidance systems have reduced the rate of CFIT accidents, these systems focus on symptoms rather than underlying causes. Often, a pilotÕs first response to a Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) alert is an attempt to verify the accuracy of the alert rather than taking immediate corrective action (Corwin, 1995). Data from the Air Force Safety Center indicate that CFIT accidents occur in a wide variety of missions and aircraft. In the last ten years, CFIT accidents have cost the Air Force 98 aircraft, 190 lives, and $1.68 billion (Moroze and Snow, 1999). Also, despite inclusion of GPWS, losses due to CFIT accidents show little sign of decreasing (see Figure 1).