Using Technology to Support Aircraft Inspection Training

Research in aircraft inspection and maintenance has revealed the criticality of human inspection performance in improving aviation safety. If we are to provide the general public with a safe and reliable air transportation system, inspection must be performed effectively, efficiently and consistently. Even though it is difficult to eliminate errors completely, continuing emphasis must be placed on identifying interventions to reduce errors and improve consistency in performance. Training has been identified as the primary intervention strategy in improving the quality and reliability of aircraft inspection performance. If training is to be successful, it is clear that we need to provide aircraft inspectors with tools to help enhance their inspection skills and improve performance. In response to this need, a high fidelity inspection-training simulator was developed: (ASSIST: Automated System of SelfInstruction for Specialized Training) a specialized PC based inspection training software focused on improving aircraft inspection performance. Since then, a Virtual Reality (VR) based simulator has been developed as a collaborative extension of ASSIST. Both of these tools are described as part of this paper.