By Jane M. Sanders Three jumbo jets are converging on a major airport on different flight paths. Somewhere in between the ground and the sky, air traffic controllers relentlessly dish out commands, knowing those little blips on those little screens represent tons of metal and hundreds of lives. L.J. Yankosky are determining the balance needed to give pilots the right information without overwhelming them with too much. Researchers hope their work will lead to the widespread implementation of a technology called Cockpit Display of Traffic Information.
Pilots follow the directives, sometimes second guessing the air traffic controllers.
But they don't know what's on the screen. Perhaps the efficiency of air traffic management would improve. The technology is available. But there's a reluctance to fully implement CDTI in commercial aircraft. So far, only low-end versions of CDTI have been installed in commercial aircraft, primarily to help pilots react more quickly in collision avoidance maneuvers.