4D continuous descent operations supported by an electronic flight bag: A human-in-the-loop study

This paper describes a set of flight simulation experiments carried out with the DLR's Generic Cockpit Simulator (GECO). A new concept named time and energy managed operations (TEMO), which aims to enable advanced four dimensional (4D) continuous descent operations (CDO), was evaluated after three full days of experiments with qualified pilots. The experiment focused to investigate the possibility of using a 4D-controller on a modern aircraft with unmodified or only slightly modified avionic systems. This was achieved by executing the controller in an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) and using the pilot to “close the loop” by entering speed and other advisories into the autopilot Flight Control Unit (FCU). The outcome of the experiments include subjective (questionnaires answered by pilots) and objective (trajectory logs) data. Data analysis showed a very good acceptance (both in terms of safety and operability of the procedure) from the participating crews, only with minor suggestions to be improved in future versions of the controller and the speed advisories update rates. Good time accuracy all along the descent trajectory was also observed.