tobepublishedinaviationhumanfactors-irit.docVIP

Published in Aviation Human Factors Editors : Daniel J. Garland, John Wise and David Hopkin Lawrence Erlbaum Associate Inc. Publishers , NJ. , 1998 Amalberti, R. (1998) Automation in Aviation : A human factors perspective, in D.Garland, J.Wise D. Hopkin (Eds) Aviation Human Factors, (pp 173-192, chapter 7), Hillsdale- New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Chapter 7 Automation in Aviation: A Human Factors Perspective René R. Amalberti Val de Grace Military Hospital, Paris, and IMASSA, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France (IMASSA : Institut de Médecine Aéronautique du Service de Santé des Armées) Aircraft automation is part of a vast movement to improve and control performance and risks in our so-called advanced societies. Beyond the consequences for crews, automation is incorporated into the global evolution of these advanced societies as a tool providing people with more comfort and happiness, better performance, and fewer problems. But automation is also part of the aviation business and gives rise to permanent national and international competition between manufacturers. Inevitably accidents, incidents, and successes feed this competition and are overexploited by the press. From a technical point of view, any new technology calls for a period of adaptation to eliminate residual problems and to allow users to adapt to it. This period can takes several years, with successive cycles of optimization for design, training, and regulation. This was the case when jets replaced propeller planes. The introduction of aircraft like the B707 or the B727 were major events in aviation. These cycles are invariably fraught with difficulties of all types including accidents. People do not yet know how to optimize complex systems and reach the maximum safety level without field experience. The major reason for this long adaptive process is the need for harmonization between the new design on one hand and the policies, procedures, and moreover the mentalities of th