Pilot compliance to TCAS Resolution Advisories

This paper summarizes insights into pilot compliance to Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) Resolution Advisories (RA's), as gained in a series of experiments in an integrated air traffic-flight simulator with airline pilots. The simulator had a full implementation of TCAS, and the aircraft's path was controlled by an air traffic controller as part of a busy traffic stream arriving into Dallas-Fort Worth. The pilots were urged to apply their best judgment to resolve traffic events. The experiments varied Air Traffic Control (ATC) communications, including traffic call-outs and instructions that directly conflicted with TCAS advisories.-Additionally, the experiments varied traffic events by both relative trajectory (including events during approach intercept and with noncontrolled Visual Flight Regulation traffic passing 500 feet below) and a range of resolution advisory types (including preventive, corrective, and crossing-corrective RA's). The compliance of the pilots is detailed here, including examination of aspects of pilot responses to RAs that caused non-compliance. Further, the impact of several interventions - auto-execution, pilot training, and displays - will be compared for its impact on pilot compliance.