Have Pilot Cockpit Eye-Scan Patterns Changed?

Flying an aircraft is a visual task, with up to 90 percent of the necessary information gathered through the pilot’s eyes, explains Captain Matt Gray in this Guest Commentary. Eye-tracking research looks at how modern cockpits may be changing what pilots look at.

To make sense of an increasingly dense visual environment in a modern aircraft, a pilot must learn and perfect the skill of an instrument scan using modern flight instruments. According to the US Federal Aviation Administration’s Instrument Flying Handbook, the first fundamental skill of instrument flying is developing a scan which is defined as the “continuous and logical observation of instruments for attitude and performance information”.

Many pilots will recall their initial instrument flight training where the instruments were arranged in a radial pattern with the attitude indicator at the hub and performance instruments arranged in a radial pattern around this central hub. This instrument arrangement was the result of work by researchers just after the Second World War; they determined that this configuration was the best design. The scan pattern pilots were taught in order to use this arrangement was referred to as the “selected radial scan” pattern. This pattern required pilots to focus on the attitude indicator and then visually select the appropriate information from the other instruments before returning to the attitude indicator.

Flight instruments have evolved from the previous display of individual radial instruments, fusing into more complex presentations. Aircraft such as the Boeing 787-9 have a Primary Flight Display (PFD) that combines an enormous amount of information into one instrument. These are referred to as “glass instruments” and are now the standard display.

In addition to the glass presentation, many new airliners such as the 787 and Airbus A350 are fitted with a Head-Up Display (HUD). The HUD was developed from the military and has the advantage of presenting critical information to the pilot in their line of sight. The pilot can scan the vital instrumentation and still view the outside world, making the transition to landing after an instrument approach (particularly in poor weather) easier.

The result of this modern instrumentation suggests scan modification from the traditional radial scan pattern.

A pilot requires extensive training to fly a complex modern airliner and an effective scan is essential. Novice pilots transitioning to large aircraft for the first time take time to develop a scan and often need guidance from the instructor about refining a scan pattern to improve performance. After training, the newly trained pilot then spends years refining and polishing their scan through line flying experience and in the simulator during recurrent training.

If pilot scan behaviour is regarded as critical, and new information-rich and diverse instruments require modified scan techniques, then a number of questions arise about exactly how pilots scan and what training methods might be used to enhance learning. To what extent does the scan behaviour of a pilot influence their performance? What similarities or differences exist between expert and non-expert pilots? Do differences in eye scan exist between the HUD and the PFD, and if they do what does this mean for training? What value can eye trackers bring and how can they be used in flight training? Can eye trackers accelerate learning?

Prior to the pandemic, Australia’s Qantas Airways invested in a Seeing Machines eye tracker as part of its new B787-9 full-flight simulator (produced by L3Harris), making it the first purpose-built eye-tracker/simulator combination. The eye tracker was fitted to explore the complexities of pilot eye scan versus performance with the aim of improving training and seeking answers to scan questions.

Eye tracking research has been of interest for over 100 years in a number of industries such as medicine and aviation. In the last 20 years eye-tracking technology has improved to permit eye trackers to be fitted to a simulator that are unobtrusive to the pilot and allow the tracked eye positions to be accurately displayed on the instructor’s panel as an additional diagnostic and remediation tool.

The eye-tracking/simulator research is ongoing at Qantas and is planned to be conducted in a number of phases, first to gather data to examine scan patterns during a range of manoeuvres flown by experts versus novices, and in particular examining scan patterns on the HUD. The HUD is an excellent tool but has some human factors considerations such as the width of the presentation and differences in the symbology between the HUD and the PFD. Understanding these limitations may allow more targeted and effective training for trainees and provide more guided input from the instructor.

The opportunities for further research continue to evolve with Covid providing a unique opportunity, despite the devastating effect on the global aviation industry. Large numbers of pilots worldwide have been stood down for extended periods and changes in scan behaviour for this group remain unknown.

Interest in the potential of eye tracking for aviation remains high and the research presently being undertaken at Qantas is aimed at finding answers that may help flight training worldwide.

About the Author

Captain Matt Gray trained as a pilot and instructor in the RAAF and spent 32 years in Qantas flying the Boeing 747, as well as flying and examining on the B767, B737 and B787. Matt was a management pilot for 20 years, rising to Head of Training and Checking. Matt holds a Master of Aviation and is currently doing a PhD in pilot eye-scan behaviour.