Introduction

This report is part of a continuing study of pilot conceptions about cockpit automation. The goal of the project is to better understand what pilots of modern airliners know and believe about the automation, especially the autoflight functions, of the airplanes they fly. The project seeks to document the knowledge and attitudes and to discover how these are distributed among the pilots in the airline fleets. This report focuses on attitudes toward automation. A later report will discuss the content of the knowledge pilots have about autoflight functions.

The study described here examined attitudes toward automation among pilots flying the Boeing 757/767 for a large airline. The Boeing 757 and 767 are different airplanes of quite different sizes. However, the cockpits of the two airplanes are nearly identical, only a few switches differ, so they are considered to be a single fleet, and pilots earn a single type rating that qualifies them to fly either airplane. See figure 1.

The 757/767 has a moderate level of flight automation. It has a complete Flight Management Computer System (FMCS) which can be programmed to guide the airplane through a complete flight from shortly after takeoff until the after-landing rollout. It also has a partial Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS). The attitude indicator and the lateral navigation display (ND) are computer generated displays. The airspeed indicator, altimeter, and vertical speed indicator are traditional electro-mechanical devices.