In support of this Coast Guard rulemaking effort, the Volpe Center's Environmental Engineering Division recently completed a damage stability study of specific categories of domestic passenger vessels. The study found that the great majority of modern designs for these vessels were able to meet the new requirements and it identified necessary modifications to bring about compliance in the others. In addition to completing the study, the Volpe Center's Michael Dyer worked with the Coast Guard at a public meeting to explain the probable impact of the new rule. The Coast Guard will issue the final rule after receiving further comment from the public. A new prototype format for instrument approach plates published by the government has been under development and evaluation by the Volpe Center's Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division human factors engineers for several years.
Approach plates are charts of detailed information needed by pilots for landing on specific runways.
Key features of the prototypes have been reviewed and endorsed by cartographic professionals and pilots. Controlled laboratory studies have shown that the prototypes provide for increased rates of information transfer. Evaluations with air carrier crews flying approaches in advanced technology simulators have shown that the new formats improve and standardize pre approach briefings. Most recently, the Center has shown in actual flight that single pilot crews require less viewing time to obtain critical information from the prototype charts while preparing for and executing actual instrument approaches. At the same meeting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cartographers presented a plan for national implementation of the new formats.