Aircraft states and their impact on pilot gaze behavior

The proper interaction of a pilot and the automation in an aircraft cockpit is critical to the dependable completion of a flight. Due to an increasing level of aircraft automation, the pilot´s situation awareness might decrease in the long run, which endangers a proper pilot-aircraft interaction. One way to enable the pilot maintaining a high situation awareness despite a high level of automation might be the development of a monitoring system, which continuously supervises the pilot´s gaze behavior and assists if deviations to an expected gaze pattern occur. To provide the required input, gaze data was gathered from a professional airline pilot in an aircraft simulator performing a flight from cruise up to touch-down with a flight management system active. Using a multi-method data analytic approach, the gaze behavior was related to the changes of the aircraft states. The results demonstrate a close relationship between, for instance, the altitude level, as well as track, and speed changes with changes in the pilot gaze characteristics. Interpreting the results, conclusions are drawn with regard to how the pilot-aircraft interaction could be improved in the future.