Like driving a car, flying an airplane involves processing a lot of information coming at you in a dynamic environment. Several factors can affect the way your brain operates in these situations, including age and previous trauma, such as concussions.
Within the Visualization and Simulation (VSIM) Centre at Ottawa’s Carleton University, the Advanced Cognitive Engineering Laboratory (ACE Lab) is studying foundational principles of cognition and how humans interact with machines and their environment. One of their studies, CANFLY, is focused on fixed-wing pilots and how cognition affects their performance in the cockpit.
The goal of this research, explained Dr. Kathleen Van Benthem, senior research scientist at the ACE Lab, is to keep general aviation (GA) pilots flying as safely as possible for as long as possible.
“This lab has studied pilots of all ages since about 2007,” she told Skies. “We’re interested in everything to do with cognition and safety.”
In her previous career as an occupational therapist, Van Benthem studied older driver safety. As a PhD student joining the ACE Lab in 2008, she brought much of that knowledge with her.
“She gravitated to aviation immediately,” recalled Dr. Chris Herdman, director of the ACE Lab. “We thought, maybe we can develop a safety tool to help assess when cognitive changes have occurred, to the extent where a pilot needs support. We began by looking at a study of older versus younger pilots with a desktop Cessna simulator. Then, we built a full-scale Cessna 172 simulator.”
Since then, many students have conducted their undergraduate and graduate work in association with CANFLY. Presently, Masters student Emily Larkin is working with Van Benthem and Herdman on a large-scale validation study.
The ACE Lab is housed in the VSIM Centre, an 80,000-square-foot building on the Carleton University campus. The CANFLY program has access to equipment ranging from desktop simulators to virtual reality simulators.
There is even a remote testing option for pilots who can’t come to the Ottawa facility – all designed to evaluate pilot safety using a human factors approach.
Herdman said the CANFLY study examines a pilot’s situational awareness on three levels: immediate detection; understanding and interpreting; and being able to project that information into the future.
Researchers are very interested in a concept called prospective memory – which involves remembering to follow through on planned actions, such as making a radio call.
“When most people think about memory ability, they are thinking about retrospective memory, where we recall something that has already happened,” explained Herdman. “Prospective memory is when you rely on your brain and environmental cues to remind you to do something important later on. We need these cues. When a normal SOP (standard operating procedure) is interrupted, a pilot could forget to do something crucial.”
While medical incapacitation is a common concern in the cockpit, researchers say cognitive incapacitation is also a threat, especially if weaknesses are exacerbated by a challenging environment. Both situations can be equally devastating.
Accordingly, CANFLY evaluates how pilots prioritize known tasks and how they physically perform those activities.
“We are interested in gauging how cognition is changing along the lifespan,” said Herdman.
Calling all pilots
CANFLY invites all fixed-wing pilots across the country – no matter their age or what they fly – to participate in the study.
Those in the Ottawa area are encouraged to visit the ACE Lab, where they will participate in a free survey followed by a scenario-based virtual reality evaluation. In total, the in-person visit takes about two hours.
For those who are further away, a 45-minute online assessment is an option. Van Benthem clarified that while a debriefing is provided, “we are still at the validation stage, not at the stage where we can tell anyone how they did on the assessment.”
For this phase of the study, researchers are looking for about 60 additional pilots.
Herdman said the ultimate goal is for CANFLY to be validated and packaged for GA pilots within two years. It is designed to be a self-administered tool, one “that is proactive in terms of assessment across a pilot’s lifespan.”
He said the ability for a pilot to evaluate their cognition in the cockpit gives them more confidence and control over their own destiny.
Van Benthem added that pilots who participate in the study are participating in their own safety.
“Cognition is the big thing we like to put forward – it is critical. The whole idea is, it puts the idea of cognition on the front burner and gets pilots involved. They always tell us they’ve learned so much after completing all the study tasks.”
She said researchers have had tremendous support from aviation stakeholders, including pilots themselves and Transport Canada – although their work is independent and is not funded by any government agency.
“We’ve had hundreds of pilots come to our study over the years,” concluded Van Benthem. “It’s the longest running and largest GA-focused study in the world.”
Are you a fixed-wing pilot who would like to participate in the CANFLY study on cognition in the cockpit? Click here to learn more about the study and to contact the ACE Lab.
To learn more about cognition, aging pilots and the work at the ACE Lab, visit the SmartPilot website.
