Using critical incidents to understand the interactions of airlinedispatchers with the traffic management system

摘要

The purpose of the work was to explore various themes central tohuman interaction with complex socio technical systems. These includethe decomposition of roles and responsibilities as a way to deal withthe cognitive complexity of working in a dynamic real time environment.If the locus of control is shifted as a result of this decomposition,then access to appropriate information necessary to support each subtaskbecomes an issue. Technology is one obvious tool to both help reducecognitive complexity and to aid with communication, but identifying theappropriate role for technology in this setting requires additionalinvestigation. Finally, if the goal is to design an effectivecollaborative environment, it is necessary to have an appropriateinfrastructure, including information/communication paths, policies,procedures and technology, to support this environment. In order toexplore these issues in the interactions of airline dispatchers withflight crews and with the traffic management system, a group of 11experts was convened to represent different system perspectives.Critical incidents representing actual events were collected to focusthe discussion. These incidents were presented one at a time to theparticipants, who were then asked to discuss them from their differentperspectives. Three critical incidents are presented. Results for eachincident are presented as a summary of the discussion initiated by thatincident. Finally, conclusions are presented which identify theoverarching themes