Effect of daytime and nighttime on helicopter pilot’s gaze behavior: a preliminary study in real flight conditions

Nighttime affects pilot visual scan patterns and increase the risks of helicopter operations, contributing to many helicopter accidents and incidents. Several past studies have attempted to examine the effect of nighttime on helicopter pilot gaze behavior, but researchers had limited success due to...

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Main Authors: Chenyang Zhang, Jin He, Chuang Liu, Wenbing Zhu, Shihan Luo, Chaozhe Jiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Vilnius Gediminas Technical University 2024-12-01
Series:Aviation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.vilniustech.lt/index.php/Aviation/article/view/22751
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author Chenyang Zhang
Jin He
Chuang Liu
Wenbing Zhu
Shihan Luo
Chaozhe Jiang
author_facet Chenyang Zhang
Jin He
Chuang Liu
Wenbing Zhu
Shihan Luo
Chaozhe Jiang
author_sort Chenyang Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Nighttime affects pilot visual scan patterns and increase the risks of helicopter operations, contributing to many helicopter accidents and incidents. Several past studies have attempted to examine the effect of nighttime on helicopter pilot gaze behavior, but researchers had limited success due to the difficulty of collecting representative data under real flight conditions. The present study attempted to address this challenge by conducting a real flight study involving daytime and nighttime traffic pattern tasks and using a Tobii Glasses 3 eye-tracking device to collect helicopter pilot eye-tracking data. This study preliminarily explored the feasibility of data collection in real flight conditions in the context of eye-tracking research on civil helicopter pilots in China. Due to safety considerations, only one pilot was recruited to collect data in multiple tasks. Differences and correlations were examined for all gaze behavior metrics. The results suggested that pilot gaze behavior metrics and their correlations differed between daytime and nighttime flights in aspects critical to aviation safety. Pilot gaze behavior also varied with the flight phase. The findings from this study serve as a reference for optimizing helicopter pilot training systems, improving pilot performance during nighttime flights, and ensuring flight safety on helicopters.
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institution OA Journals
issn 1648-7788
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language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
record_format Article
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spelling doaj-art-e2920dc769724a34a2a5f9d9d424230f2025-08-20T02:30:45ZengVilnius Gediminas Technical UniversityAviation1648-77881822-41802024-12-0128410.3846/aviation.2024.22751Effect of daytime and nighttime on helicopter pilot’s gaze behavior: a preliminary study in real flight conditionsChenyang Zhang0Jin He1Chuang Liu2Wenbing Zhu3Shihan Luo4Chaozhe Jiang5School of Transportation and Logistics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, ChinaThe Fourth Research Office, Sichuan Fire Research Institute of Ministry of Emergency Management, Chengdu, ChinaXinjin Flight College, Civil Aviation Flight University of China, Guanghan, ChinaSchool of Transportation and Logistics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, ChinaSchool of Transportation and Logistics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, ChinaSchool of Transportation and Logistics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China Nighttime affects pilot visual scan patterns and increase the risks of helicopter operations, contributing to many helicopter accidents and incidents. Several past studies have attempted to examine the effect of nighttime on helicopter pilot gaze behavior, but researchers had limited success due to the difficulty of collecting representative data under real flight conditions. The present study attempted to address this challenge by conducting a real flight study involving daytime and nighttime traffic pattern tasks and using a Tobii Glasses 3 eye-tracking device to collect helicopter pilot eye-tracking data. This study preliminarily explored the feasibility of data collection in real flight conditions in the context of eye-tracking research on civil helicopter pilots in China. Due to safety considerations, only one pilot was recruited to collect data in multiple tasks. Differences and correlations were examined for all gaze behavior metrics. The results suggested that pilot gaze behavior metrics and their correlations differed between daytime and nighttime flights in aspects critical to aviation safety. Pilot gaze behavior also varied with the flight phase. The findings from this study serve as a reference for optimizing helicopter pilot training systems, improving pilot performance during nighttime flights, and ensuring flight safety on helicopters. https://journals.vilniustech.lt/index.php/Aviation/article/view/22751aviation safetyhelicopter pilotgaze behaviordaytime and nighttimereal flightspreliminary study
spellingShingle Chenyang Zhang
Jin He
Chuang Liu
Wenbing Zhu
Shihan Luo
Chaozhe Jiang
Effect of daytime and nighttime on helicopter pilot’s gaze behavior: a preliminary study in real flight conditions
Aviation
aviation safety
helicopter pilot
gaze behavior
daytime and nighttime
real flights
preliminary study
title Effect of daytime and nighttime on helicopter pilot’s gaze behavior: a preliminary study in real flight conditions
title_full Effect of daytime and nighttime on helicopter pilot’s gaze behavior: a preliminary study in real flight conditions
title_fullStr Effect of daytime and nighttime on helicopter pilot’s gaze behavior: a preliminary study in real flight conditions
title_full_unstemmed Effect of daytime and nighttime on helicopter pilot’s gaze behavior: a preliminary study in real flight conditions
title_short Effect of daytime and nighttime on helicopter pilot’s gaze behavior: a preliminary study in real flight conditions
title_sort effect of daytime and nighttime on helicopter pilot s gaze behavior a preliminary study in real flight conditions
topic aviation safety
helicopter pilot
gaze behavior
daytime and nighttime
real flights
preliminary study
url https://journals.vilniustech.lt/index.php/Aviation/article/view/22751
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AT wenbingzhu effectofdaytimeandnighttimeonhelicopterpilotsgazebehaviorapreliminarystudyinrealflightconditions
AT shihanluo effectofdaytimeandnighttimeonhelicopterpilotsgazebehaviorapreliminarystudyinrealflightconditions
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