Abstract
Research and statistics have demonstrated the consistent increases in the safety of the aviation sector. Although both commercial and general aviation have had drastic decreases in incidents and errors, mid-air collision rates in general aviation have remained relatively stable over the past 50 years. There is a lack of research examining factors that may influence the occurrence of mid-air collisions and exploring why rates have not decreased commensurate with other incident types. Much past research has focused on post-hoc incident analysis and concluded that they were caused by human error. In addition, research has over-looked the impact that distraction may have during unexpected critical scenarios in aviation. This narrow view of mid-air collisions has led to the overlooking of factors such as recent flying experience and distraction. Investigations have not determined the impact that these may have on flight performance and decision making. Therefore, it is essential to shift to human factors-based perspectives when looking at these types of accidents.
The current research provides a new perspective on mid-air collision research by investigating external factors that may influence responses to an unexpected mid-air collision scenario. Flight naïve participants completed a training session in a flight simulator and were instructed to come back for an experimental flight. Participants were randomly allocated to have either a one-day or one-week delay between the training and experimental phase. During the experimental flight a naturalistic distraction and a mid-air collision scenario were introduced. The results of the present study demonstrated that a delay between flight sessions did have an impact on flight performance and responses to the collision scenario, but this did not reach statistical significance. Additionally, participants that had a shorter delay between flights suggested that their overall workload was higher despite performing better. The distraction presented did not affect flight performance or responses alone, although, it was recognised that a delay between flights impacted the way the distraction influenced participants. This research has paved the way for a shift in the way mid-air collisions are analysed, and has highlighted the importance of investigating recent flying experience and distraction during unexpected critical scenarios.