An Evaluation of the Taxiway Navigation and Situation Awareness (T-NASA) System in High-Fidelity Simulation

The effects of an electronic moving map and a HUD on ground taxi performance in reduced visibility were examined in a high-fidelity simulation. Sixteen commercial flight crews completed 21 trials, each consisting of an autoland arrival to Chicago O'Hare and taxi to an apron area. Relative to a baseline (paper-chart only) condition, the EMM/HUD combination increased forward speed by 21%, and reduced navigation errors by nearly 100%. These results, together with workload ratings, situation awareness ratings, analyses of crew interactions, and pilot feedback, provide strong evidence that the combination of head-up symbology and an EMM can substantially improve both the efficiency and the safety of ground operations.