Human Performance Impacts Associated With Integrating Multiple NextGen Separation Management Concepts

Separation Management capabilities aim to provide controllers with tools and procedures to more efficiently manage air traffic in a mixed equipage environment. This paper presents the results of an integrated human performance safety assessment of Separation Management concepts planned for implementation between 2016 and 2020. The assessment utilized the Human and Organizational Safety Technique (HOST) to provide a structured method for identifying potential human error modes and estimating their contribution to the human performance risk profile. The HOST assessment resulted in multiple potential human error modes across the individual Separation Management changes. As no concept will be implemented in isolation, key interactions among error modes were assessed utilizing an integrated Human-System Interaction Model. The findings from this research provide a proactive view of potential human-system integration challenges that can be used by stakeholders to proactively develop human factors mitigation strategies that will reduce implementation time and costs associated with each concept.