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Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-95/14

Title and Subtitle: Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance - Phase IV Progress Report, N95-27696

Report Date: May 1995

Authors: Shepherd, W.T., and Galaxy Scientific Corporation

Abstract: The fourth phase of research on human factors in aviation maintenance continued to look at the human's role in the aviation maintenance system via investigations, demonstrations, and evaluations of the research program outputs. This report describes the field evaluation plan for the Performance Enhancement System, a computer-based tool designed to aid Aviation Safety Inspectors in performing their oversight duties (Chapter 2). Chapter 3 describes the design of .a computer-based workcard system.

The report also discusses the development of an ergonomic audit program for visual inspection, which contains a method of choosing tasks to be audited, an audit checklist, and a computer program to evaluate check-list response against national and international standards (Chapter 4). Chapter 5 reports on an investigation of ergonomic factors that may cause increased inspector stress, fatigue, and workload, particularly in restrictive spaces that cause extreme postures. The continued development and expansion of the hypermedia information system is reported on in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 describes an investigation of individual differences in nondestructive inspection performance. Chapter 8 describes an investigation to determine the effect of an Intelligent Help Agent on the effectiveness of computer-based training. Chapter 9 reports on a joint CAA/FAA investigation of reliability in aircraft inspection in the United Kingdom and United States. Chapter 10 is a bibliographic overview of selected issues in designing computer-based training systems.

Key Words: Human Factors, Aviation Maintenance Hypermedia, NDI Performance, Computer-based Training, Ergonomic audit, Aircraft Inspection, Restrictive spaces

No. of Pages: 179

Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012