Comparison of manual and autopilot breakout maneuvers with three closely spaced parallel runway approaches

This study used a high-fidelity flight simulator to explore approach operations for three closely-spaced parallel runways using autopilot and manually flown breakout procedures. An initial study investigated the concept under manual control mode only. The concept aimed to achieve visual meteorological conditions capacities under instrument meteorological conditions when landing aircraft on runways as close as 750 ft apart. This investigation studied procedures related to autopilot breakout maneuvers for triple parallel aircraft flying in an echelon formation and compared them to the manual procedures investigated earlier. All of the data collection runs had an off-nominal situation, which was either caused by the wake of the lead aircraft drifting too close to the center and trailing aircraft, or the lead aircraft deviating from its course and blundering towards the center and trailing aircraft. The location of the off-nominal situation (high/low altitude) and the position of the ownship (center or right runway) were also manipulated. Statistically significant results showed that autopilot breakout maneuvers were flown more accurately than manual breakout maneuvers. Some improved lateral separation was also observed between the paired aircraft while the autopilot was used, which could be attributed to the improved accuracies with which the breakout maneuver was flown using autopilot. On the subjective ratings, pilots experienced reduced workload, a similar level of situation awareness, and a reduced level of situational demands under the autopilot condition. Objective and subjective data from the current study extends the results from the previous research [1], with some evidence to suggest further improvement in these factors when autopilot breakout procedures are used.