1st Edition
Aviation Information Management From Documents to Data
Operational information management is at a crossroads as it sheds the remaining vestiges of its paper-based processes and moves through the uncharted domain of electronic data processes. The final outcome is not yet in full focus, but real progress has been made in the transition to electronic documents providing the aviation industry with a clear direction. This book looks at a combination of industry initiatives and airline successes that point to the next steps that operators can take as they transition to fully integrated information management systems. Although the route has not been fully identified, it is evident that a key to successful long-term efficient information management is industry-wide cooperation. The chapters are authored by a range of experts in operational information management, and collectively, they outline ways that operators can improve efficiency across flight, ground and maintenance operations. Considerations and recommendations are identified and presented addressing the following priorities: Safety-critical information and procedures Human factors Information security Operational information standardization. The readership includes: Airline flight operations managers and standards personnel, Airline operating documents and publication specialists, Airline information managers, Commercial pilots, Airline maintenance managers and personnel, Manufacturers and vendors of aviation products, Aviation regulators and policy makers, Aviation researchers and developers of information technologies, and Military technical publications specialists.
Biography
Thomas L. Seamster is Senior Research Scientist at Cognitive & Human Factors, Santa Fe, USA. He has directed research in aviation human factors of air traffic control, crew systems and crew training with special interest in human expertise in computer programming, flight crew resource management assessment and spacecraft control. On the applied side, he has developed and tested user interfaces for both military and commercial systems and has developed expert and intelligent tutoring systems for the aerospace community. Recently, Dr. Seamster has conducted research in airline operating documents and, with Dr. Kanki, has co-chaired the NASA/FAA Operating Documents Group. He is co-author, with Drs. Kaempf and Redding, of Applied Cognitive Task Analysis in Aviation, Ashgate, 1997. Barbara G. Kanki is a Research Psychologist at NASA Ames Research Center with a Ph.D. in Behavioural Sciences from the University of Chicago. She has conducted crew factors research in both aviation and space systems; from flight crew communications and Crew Resource Management, to crew issues in ATC, maintenance and space shuttle processing. Customer collaborators include NASA, the FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board, as well as airline, military, manufacturer and union organizations. She manages human factors research under several NASA safety programs, and has conducted FAA-sponsored research in airline operating documents. With Dr. Seamster, she co-chairs the NASA/FAA Operating Documents Group and was co-editor with Drs. Wiener and Helmreich, of Cockpit Resource Management, Academic Press, 1993.
’...the information management text book for the 21st century. Aviation Information Management is required reading for all aviation professionals that develop, manage or maintain information systems. For companies that are looking for quality out of the box thinking, this is the publication.’ Capt. Grover Trask, FedEx B-727 Technical Aircraft Advisor, FedEx Headquarters, Memphis, USA ’As the information age has irreversibly taken possession of aircraft cockpits, pilot training and airline operations to the point of presently turning most traditional documentation into paperless deliverables, Aviation Information Management is rapidly becoming a core discipline in Aeronautics. We wish to strongly endorse Tom Seamster and Barbara Kanki’s book as it provides an excellent introduction to be able to effectively cope with this challenge: not that it is solving the task itself but it gives a very good insight into the issues that have to be dealt with when structuring and presenting accurate and useful technical documentation whose end-users need hands-on and ready to use operational material.’ Jean-Jacques Speyer, Senior Manager Operational Evaluation, Human Factors and Communication, Airbus Customer Services ’During the past decade, the Civil Aviation industry has pioneered the creative, practical use of advanced document-management technology. A number of sophisticated applications are described in this excellent volume, edited by two internationally recognized experts in Aviation Human Factors. These chapters provide encouraging examples of what computer power can accomplish, even in an intensely bottom-line oriented industry, if fundamental user-oriented design principles are respected.’ Michael G. Shafto, Ph.D., Computational Sciences Division, NASA-Ames Research Center, USA ’This book looks at a combination of industry initiatives and airline successes that point to the next steps that operators can take as they transition to fully
