Operational evaluation of data link air traffic control services

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has begun the development of a digital data link system intended to augment congested voice radio channels used for communication between ground-based air traffic controllers and airborne flight personnel. As a major part of this effort, the FAA technical center is pursuing a research program to design and evaluate controller and pilot procedures, displays, and inputs which will effectively support the delivery of weather and air traffic controls (ATC) services to data-link-equipped aircraft. A continuing series of manned simulation studies conducted to evaluate and refine candidate service designs and to determine their utility in the operational ATC environment are described. Detailed results are presented from an operational evaluation study in which four data link en route ATC services and functions were tested in a full-scale simulation with both FAA controllers and professional pilots participating. Research efforts aimed at examining expanded en route services and at developing terminal area applications of data link are discussed