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79-568: From the Toronto Area Control Centre, air traffic controllers provide en route and terminal control services to aircraft in the Toronto Flight Information Region (FIR). The Toronto FIR airspace covers most of Southern Ontario , Central Ontario , parts of Eastern Ontario , and parts of northwestern Michigan . To the east are the air traffic control centres of Montreal and Boston ; to

158-521: A Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory before being hired by the Federal Aviation Administration . Conditions such as hypertension , while not disqualifying, are taken seriously and must be monitored with medical examinations by certified doctors. Controllers must take precautions to remain healthy and avoid certain medications that are banned for them; all medications, even over-the-counter drugs , must be reported to

237-504: A 30-minute break. Except at quieter airports, air traffic control is a 24-hour, 365-day-a-year job where controllers usually work rotating shifts, including nights, weekends, and public holidays. These are usually set 28 days in advance. In many countries, the structure of controllers' shift patterns is regulated to allow for adequate time off. In the UK, the most common pattern is two mornings, two late afternoons, and two evenings/nights followed by

316-820: A combination of expertise, preparedness, effective communication, and a willingness to adapt, ensuring that the chosen course of action aligns with the urgency of the situation while minimizing the risk of errors. While the SA construct has been widely researched, the multivariate nature of SA poses a considerable challenge to its quantification and measurement. In general, techniques vary in terms of direct measurement of SA (e.g., objective real-time probes or subjective questionnaires assessing perceived SA) or methods that infer SA based on operator behavior or performance. Direct measures are typically considered to be "product-oriented" in that these techniques assess an SA outcome; inferred measures are considered to be "process-oriented," focusing on

395-483: A critical foundation for successful decision-making across a broad range of situations, many of which involve the protection of human life and property, including law enforcement , aviation , air traffic control , ship navigation, health care, emergency response, military command and control operations, transmission system operators , self defense , and offshore oil and nuclear power plant management. Inadequate situation awareness has been identified as one of

474-414: A degree of situational awareness that is significantly better than the population average. In 'games' involving short-term memory, peer-induced stresses, and real-time risk analysis, air traffic control specialists scored better than the control group in every experiment . Excellent hearing and speaking skills are a requirement, and trainees undergo rigorous physical and psychological testing. Moreover,

553-415: A fast processing of numeric computations and mathematics, assertive and firm decision-making skills, the ability to maintain their composure under pressure, and an excellent short-term memory . Through numerous studies throughout the decades, it has been demonstrated that traffic controllers usually have a superior visual memory , and in addition, studies have shown that air traffic controllers generally have

632-405: A four-day break. Many countries regulate work hours to ensure that controllers are able to remain focused and effective. Research has shown that when controllers remain "on position" for more than two hours without a break, performance can deteriorate rapidly, even at low traffic levels. Many national regulations, therefore, require breaks at least every two hours. Sylvia Noble Tesh documented

711-450: A high level of SA on those factors that are relevant for his or her job. It is not sufficient for one member of the team to be aware of critical information if the team member who needs that information is not aware. Therefore, team members need to be successful in communicating information between them (including how they are interpreting or projecting changes in the situation to form level 2 and 3 SA) or in each independently being able to get

790-618: A large, unique, and privileged degree of autonomy as major advantages of their jobs. Although the media in the United States frequently refers to them as air controllers , or flight controllers , most air traffic professionals use the term air traffic controllers , ATCOs , or controllers . For a more detailed article on the job itself, see air traffic control . Air traffic controllers are generally individuals who possess superior situational awareness , spatial awareness , and are well organized. Other skills that are essential include

869-446: A limited life span of membership. Team SA is defined as "the degree to which every team member possesses the SA required for his or her responsibilities". The success or failure of a team depends on the success or failure of each of its team members. If any one of the team members has poor SA, it can lead to a critical error in performance that can undermine the success of the entire team. By this definition, each team member needs to have

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948-438: A number of factors that make some people better at SA than others including differences in spatial abilities and multi-tasking skills. Criticisms of the SA construct and the model are generally viewed as unfounded and addressed. The Endsley model is very detailed in describing the exact cognitive processes involved in SA. A narrative literature review of SA, performance, and other human factors constructs states that SA “...

1027-515: A number of features of the task and environment that affect SA: Experience and training have a significant impact on people's ability to develop SA, due to its impact on the development of mental models that reduce processing demands and help people to better prioritize their goals. In addition, it has been found that individuals vary in their ability to acquire SA; thus, simply providing the same system and training will not ensure similar SA across different individuals. Research has shown that there are

1106-484: A single misunderstanding about altitude levels or runway numbers can have tragic consequences. Controllers communicate with the pilots of aircraft using a push-to-talk radiotelephony system which has many attendant issues, such as the fact that only one transmission can be made on a frequency at a time and can either merge or block each other and become unintelligible. Although local languages are used in ATC communications,

1185-446: A synthesis of disjointed Level 1 SA elements through the processes of pattern recognition, interpretation, and evaluation. Level 2 SA requires integrating this information to understand how it will impact upon the individual's goals and objectives. This includes developing a comprehensive picture of the world, or of that portion of the world of concern to the individual. Projection (Level 3 SA) : The third and highest level of SA involves

1264-447: Is about the process of achieving these kinds of outcomes, the strategies, and the barriers encountered. In brief, sensemaking is viewed more as "a motivated, continuous effort to understand connections (which can be among people, places, and events) in order to anticipate their trajectories and act effectively", rather than the state of knowledge underlying situation awareness. Endsley points out that as an effortful process, sensemaking

1343-430: Is actually considering a subset of the processes used to maintain situation awareness. In the vast majority of the cases, SA is instantaneous and effortless, proceeding from pattern recognition of key factors in the environment—"The speed of operations in activities such as sports, driving, flying and air traffic control practically prohibits such conscious deliberation in the majority of cases, but rather reserves it for

1422-464: Is due to an FAA requirement that trainees begin their training at the Academy no later than their 31st birthday, and face mandatory retirement at age 56. However, retired military air traffic controllers may qualify for appointment after reaching 31 years of age. Communication is a vital part of the job: controllers are trained to focus on the exact words that pilots and other controllers speak, because

1501-469: Is formally defined as: “the perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future”. An alternative definition is that situation awareness is adaptive, externally-directed consciousness that has as its products knowledge about a dynamic task environment and directed action within that environment. Situation awareness has been recognized as

1580-479: Is happening on those SA elements that are common— shared SA . Thus, shared SA refers to degree to which people have a common understanding on information that is in the overlap of the SA requirements of the team members. Not all information needs to be shared. Clearly, each team member is aware of much that is not pertinent to the others on the team. Sharing every detail of each person's job would creates information overload to sort through to get needed information. It

1659-443: Is often described as three ascending levels: People with the highest levels of SA have not only perceived the relevant information for their goals and decisions, but are also able to integrate that information to understand its meaning or significance, and are able to project likely or possible future scenarios. These higher levels of SA are critical for proactive decision making in demanding environments. Three facets of SA have been

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1738-420: Is only that information which is relevant to the SA requirements of each team member that needs to be shared. The situation awareness of the team as a whole, therefore, is dependent upon both a high level of SA among individual team members for the aspects of the situation necessary for their job; and a high level of shared SA between team members, providing an accurate common operating picture of those aspects of

1817-556: Is posted to a new unit or starts work on a new sector within a particular unit, they must undergo a period of training regarding the procedures peculiar to that particular unit and/or sector. The majority of this training is done in a live position controlling real aircraft and is termed On the Job Training (OJT), with a fully qualified and trained mentor or On the Job Training Instructor (OJTI) also 'plugged into'

1896-463: Is this subset of information that constitutes much of team coordination. That coordination may occur as a verbal exchange, a duplication of displayed information, or by some other means. Shared situation awareness can be defined as "the degree to which team members possess the same SA on shared SA requirements". As implied by this definition, there are information requirements that are relevant to multiple team members. A major part of teamwork involves

1975-413: Is valuable in understanding and predicting human-system performance in complex systems.” Nevertheless, there are several criticisms of SA. One criticism is the danger of circularity with SA: “How does one know that SA was lost? Because the human responded inappropriately. Why did the human respond inappropriately? Because SA was lost.” Building on the circularity concern, others deemed SA a folk model on

2054-455: The "product of applying analysis and judgment to the unit's situation awareness to determine the relationships of the factors present and form logical conclusions concerning threats to the force or mission accomplishment, opportunities for mission accomplishment, and gaps in information". Situational understanding is the same as Level 2 SA in the Endsley model—the comprehension of the meaning of

2133-727: The R-side Area controller. This can be done with or without the use of radar: radar allows a sector to handle much more traffic; however, procedural control is used in many areas where traffic levels do not justify radar or the installation of radar is not feasible, such as over oceans. In the United States, en-route controllers work at air route traffic control centers or ARTCCs. In other countries, area controllers work in area control centers , controlling high-level en-route aircraft, or terminal control centers , which control aircraft climbing from or descending to major groups of airports. Aerodrome or Tower controllers control aircraft within

2212-496: The SA of the team as a whole. To begin to understand what is needed for SA within teams, it is first necessary to clearly define what constitutes a team. A team is not just any group of individuals; rather teams have a few defining characteristics. A team is: a distinguishable set of two or more people who interact dynamically, interdependently and adaptively toward a common and valued goal/objective/mission, who have each been assigned specific roles or functions to perform, and who have

2291-461: The US, "center" controllers. Area controllers are responsible for specific sectors of 3D blocks of airspace with defined dimensions. Each sector is managed by at least one area controller, known as an "R-side" (Radar) controller that handles radio communications. During busier times of traffic, there may also be a second area controller, known as a "D-side" (Data), assigned to the same area in order to assist

2370-614: The United States, with some speculating it was due to too many white males being hired over minorities. The FAA says it "is blind on the issue of diversity". At the same time, the FAA also stopped giving preference to applicants who were military veterans with aviation experience. In addition, group of external experts appointed by the Federal Aviation Administration emphasized the need for immediate action on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, to address safety concerns in

2449-443: The ability to analyze information rapidly, prioritize key factors, and execute decisions promptly becomes paramount. Time constraints often necessitate a balance between thorough deliberation and the need for quick action. The decision-maker must rely on a combination of experience , intuition , and available data to make informed choices under pressure. Prioritizing critical elements , assessing potential outcomes, and considering

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2528-460: The ability to project the future actions of the elements in the environment. Level 3 SA is achieved through knowledge of the status and dynamics of the elements and comprehension of the situation (Levels 1 and 2 SA), and then extrapolating this information forward in time to determine how it will affect future states of the operational environment. Endsley's model shows how SA "provides the primary basis for subsequent decision making and performance in

2607-434: The ability to recalibrate strategies in real-time are vital attributes in time-critical scenarios, as unforeseen developments may require rapid adjustments to the initial decision. Embracing technological advancements and data-driven insights, and incorporating simulation exercises, can also contribute to better decision-making outcomes in high-pressure situations. Ultimately, successful time-critical decision-making involves

2686-407: The actions of individuals, task characteristics, and the surrounding environment. As new inputs enter the system, the individual incorporates them into this mental representation, making changes as necessary in plans and actions in order to achieve the desired goals. SA also involves spatial knowledge about the activities and events occurring in a specific location of interest to the individual. Thus,

2765-426: The area where these SA requirements overlap—the shared SA requirements that exist as a function of the essential interdependency of the team members. In a poorly functioning team, two or more members may have different assessments on these shared SA requirements and thus behave in an uncoordinated or even counter-productive fashion. Yet in a smoothly functioning team, each team member shares a common understanding of what

2844-419: The basis it is frequently overgeneralized and immune to falsification. A response to these criticisms it arguing that measures of SA are “... falsifiable in terms of their usefulness in prediction.” A recent review and meta-analysis of SA measures showed they were highly correlated or predictive of performance, which initially appears to provide strong quantitative evidence refuting criticisms of SA. However,

2923-472: The benefits of a prototype touch-screen navigation display. During the early 1980s, integrated “vertical-situation” and “horizontal-situation” displays were being developed for commercial aircraft to replace multiple electro-mechanical instruments. Integrated situation displays combined the information from several instruments enabling more efficient access to critical flight parameters, thereby improving situational awareness and reducing pilot workload. The term

3002-683: The completion of academic training, the graduating student will be granted an Air Traffic Control license, which will include one or more Ratings. These are sub-qualifications denoting the air traffic control discipline or disciplines in which the person has been trained. ICAO defines five such ratings: Area (procedural), Area Radar, Approach (procedural), Approach Radar, and Aerodrome. In the United States, controllers may train in several similar specialties: Tower, Ground-Controlled Approach (GCA), Terminal Radar Control, or En route Control (both radar and non-radar). This phase of training takes between six months and several years. Whenever an air traffic controller

3081-408: The computers, rather than being automated out of existence altogether. However, there are problems envisaged with technology that normally takes the controller out of the decision loop but requires the controller to step back in to control exceptional situations: air traffic control is a skill that has to be kept current by regular practice. This in itself may prove to be the largest stumbling block to

3160-500: The concept of SA includes perception, comprehension, and projection of situational information, as well as temporal and spatial components. Endsley's model of SA illustrates several variables that can influence the development and maintenance of SA, including individual, task, and environmental factors. In summary, the model consists of several key factors that describe the cognitive processes involved in SA: The model also points to

3239-592: The current situation (Level 1 and 2 SA) and select an appropriate action based on conceptual patterns stored in their long-term memory as "mental models". Cues in the environment activate these mental models, which in turn guide their decision making process. Klein, Moon, and Hoffman distinguish between situation awareness and sensemaking as follows: ...situation awareness is about the knowledge state that's achieved—either knowledge of current data elements, or inferences drawn from these data, or predictions that can be made using these inferences. In contrast, sensemaking

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3318-405: The dataset being analyzed are selected based on the outcome from analyzing the same dataset. Because only more desirable effects were included, the results of this meta-analysis were predetermined – predictive measures of SA were predictive. Further, there were inflated estimates of mean effect sizes compared to an analysis that did not select results using statistical significance. Determining

3397-595: The default language of aviation worldwide is Aviation English . Controllers who do not speak English as a first language are generally expected to show a certain minimum level of competency. Area controllers are responsible for the safety of aircraft at higher altitudes, in the en-route phase of their flight surrounding busier airports and airspace. Area controllers may also handle aircraft at lower altitudes as well as air traffic around small airports that do not have their own towers or approach controllers. In most nations, they are known as "area", "en route", or, colloquially in

3476-441: The exceptions." Endsley also points out that sensemaking is backward focused, forming reasons for past events, while situation awareness is typically forward looking, projecting what is likely to happen in order to inform effective decision processes. In many systems and organizations, people work not just as individuals, but as members of a team. Thus, it is necessary to consider the SA of not just individual team members, but also

3555-404: The focus in research: SA states, SA systems, and SA processes. SA states refers to the actual level of awareness people have of the situation. SA systems refers to technologies that are developed to support SA in many environments. SA processes refers to the updating of SA states, and what guides the moment-to-moment change of SA. Although the term itself is fairly recent, the concept has roots in

3634-536: The global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control towers on the ground, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft in their assigned airspace visually and by radar , and give directions to the pilots by radio. Controllers apply separation rules to keep aircraft at a safe distance from each other and within proper airspace in their area of responsibility and move all aircraft safely and efficiently through their assigned sector of airspace, as well as on

3713-577: The ground. Because controllers have an incredibly large responsibility while on duty (often in aviation, "on position") and make countless real-time decisions on a daily basis, the ATC profession is consistently regarded around the world as one of the most mentally challenging careers, and can be notoriously stressful depending on many variables (equipment, configurations, weather, traffic volume, traffic type, special activities, governmental actions, human factors). Many controllers, however, cite high salaries, and

3792-603: The history of military theory —it is recognizable in Sun Tzu 's The Art of War , for example. The term can be traced to World War I, where it was recognized as a crucial skill for crews in military aircraft. There is evidence that the term situational awareness was first employed at the Douglas Aircraft Company during human factors engineering research while developing vertical and horizontal situation displays and evaluating digital-control placement for

3871-422: The immediate and long-term consequences are crucial aspects of effective time-critical decision-making. Furthermore, clear communication is essential to ensure that decisions are swiftly conveyed to relevant stakeholders and executed seamlessly. Collaborative efforts, streamlined processes, and well-defined protocols can enhance the efficiency of decision-making in time-sensitive situations. Adaptability and

3950-428: The immediate vicinity of the airport and use visual observation from the airport tower. The tower's airspace is often a 5-nautical-mile (9.3 km) radius around the airport, but can vary greatly in size and shape depending on traffic configuration and volume. The tower positions are typically split into many different positions such as Flight Data/Clearance Delivery, Ground Control, and Local Control (known as Tower by

4029-436: The inclusion criteria in this meta-analysis was limited to positive correlations reaching desirable levels of statistical significance. That is, more desirable results hypothesis supporting results were included while the less desirable results, contradicting the hypothesis, were excluded. The justification was "Not all measures of SA are relevant to performance." This an example of a circular analysis or double-dipping, where

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4108-400: The information as integrated with each other and in terms of the individual's goals. It is the "so what" of the data that is perceived. In brief, situation awareness is viewed as "a state of knowledge," and situational assessment as "the processes" used to achieve that knowledge. Endsley argues that "it is important to distinguish the term situation awareness, as a state of knowledge, from

4187-578: The information perceived. Accurate mental models are one of the prerequisites for achieving SA. A mental model can be described as a set of well-defined, highly organized yet dynamic knowledge structures developed over time from experience. The volume of available data inherent in complex operational environments can overwhelm the capability of novice decision makers to attend, process, and integrate this information efficiently, resulting in information overload and negatively impacting their SA. In contrast, experienced decision makers assess and interpret

4266-414: The information they need. In a team, each member has a subgoal pertinent to his/her specific role that feeds into the overall team goal. Associated with each member's subgoal are a set of SA elements about which he/she is concerned. As the members of a team are essentially interdependent in meeting the overall team goal, some overlap between each member's subgoal and their SA requirements will be present. It

4345-436: The introduction of highly automated air traffic control systems. User acceptance or willingness to use such technology is another important consideration air service providers need to consider prior to implementing any new technology. In a recent study with over 500 air traffic controllers from around the world, Bekier and colleagues found that once the focus of decision-making shifts from the air traffic controller, support for

4424-477: The job. Despite years of effort and billions of dollars spent on computer software designed to assist air traffic control, success has been largely limited to improving the tools at the disposal of the controllers, such as computer-enhanced radar. It is likely that in the next few decades, future technology will make the controller more of a systems manager overseeing decisions made by automated systems and manually intervening to resolve situations not handled well by

4503-477: The medical authority, and failure to do so can result in a revocation of medical certification. Numerous drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are either banned or would require an air traffic controller to apply for a Special Consideration Medical Certificate and undergo stringent and continuous monitoring of the underlying medical condition. Almost universally, trainee controllers begin work in their twenties and retire in their fifties. This

4582-465: The nation's aviation system. The two primary issues they highlighted were inadequate staffing levels among air traffic controllers and the existence of outdated technology. Situational awareness Situational awareness or situation awareness ( SA ) is the understanding of an environment, its elements, and how it changes with respect to time or other factors. Situational awareness is important for effective decision making in many environments. It

4661-405: The next generation of commercial aircraft. Research programs in flight-crew computer interaction and mental workload measurement built on the concept of awareness measurement from a series of experiments that measured contingency awareness during learning, and later extended to mental workload and fatigue. Situation awareness appears in the technical literature as early as 1983, when describing

4740-407: The operation of complex, dynamic systems". Although alone it cannot guarantee successful decision making, SA does support the necessary input processes (e.g., cue recognition, situation assessment, prediction) upon which good decisions are based. SA also involves both a temporal and a spatial component. Time is an important concept in SA, as SA is a dynamic construct, changing at a tempo dictated by

4819-584: The opponent's current move and anticipating his next move a fraction of a second before he could observe and anticipate it himself. USAF pilots also came to equate SA with the "observe" and "orient" phases of the famous observe-orient-decide-act loop ( OODA loop ), or Boyd cycle, as described by the USAF war theorist Col. John Boyd . In combat, the winning strategy is to "get inside" your opponent's OODA loop, not just by making one's own decisions quicker, but also by having better SA than one's opponent, and even changing

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4898-462: The organizational psychology literature and often relate to achieving long-term strategic objectives. There are also biological mediators of situational awareness, most notably hormones such as testosterone , and neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine . Situation awareness is sometimes confused with the term "situational understanding." In the context of military command and control applications, situational understanding refers to

4977-418: The overseeing aviation authority without explicit testing and waivers signed by the overseeing medical authority, demonstrating that the disorder does not impact the individuals ability to do the job. Almost universally, controllers are subjected to rigid medical and mental exams to ensure safety in the air traffic system. In the United States, for example, all air traffic controllers are required to take and pass

5056-621: The pilots); at busier facilities, a limited radar approach control position may be needed. The roles of the positions are: Most countries' armed forces employ air traffic controllers, often in most if not all branches of the forces. Although actual terms vary from country to country, controllers are usually enlisted. In some countries, all air traffic control is performed by the military. In other countries, military controllers are responsible solely for military airspace and airbases; civilian controllers maintain airspace for civilian traffic and civilian airports. Historically, in most countries, this

5135-440: The position of the air traffic controller requires some of the strictest physical and mental health requirements for any profession in the world; conditions such as diabetes , epilepsy , heart disease , and many psychiatric disorders (e.g., clinical depression , ADHD , bipolar disorder , personality disorders , a history of drug abuse , among many others) almost always disqualify people from obtaining medical certification from

5214-399: The position to give guidance and ready to immediately take over should it become necessary. The length of this phase of training varies from a matter of months to years, depending on the complexity of the sector. Only once a person has passed all these training stages they will be allowed to control a position alone. Typically, controllers work "on position" for 90 to 120 minutes followed by

5293-402: The primary causal factors in accidents attributed to human error . According to Endsley’s situation awareness theory, when someone meets a dangerous situation, he needs an appropriate and a precise decision-making process which include pattern recognition and matching, formation of sophisticated schemata and archetypal knowledge that aids correct decision making. The formal definition of SA

5372-463: The processes used to achieve that state. These processes, which may vary widely among individuals and contexts, will be referred to as situational assessment or the process of achieving, acquiring, or maintaining SA." Note that SA is not only produced by the processes of situational assessment, it also drives those same processes in a recurrent fashion. For example, one's current awareness can determine what one pays attention to next and how one interprets

5451-465: The relay of distant communication from aircraft back to the ACC. These links are called a peripheral station (PAL). They re-transmit the voice and data communication over high speed data links between the ACC and the remote transmitter. Air traffic controller Air traffic control specialists , abbreviated ATCs , are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in

5530-696: The relevance of SA based on the desirability of outcomes and analyzing only supporting results is a circular conceptualization of SA and revives concerns about the falsifiability of SA. Several cognitive processes related to situation awareness are briefly described in this section. The matrix shown below attempts to illustrate the relationship among some of these concepts. Note that situation awareness and situational assessment are more commonly discussed in information fusion complex domains such as aviation and military operations and relate more to achieving immediate tactical objectives. Sensemaking and achieving understanding are more commonly found in industry and

5609-472: The situation common to the needs of each member. Endsley and Jones describe a model of team situation awareness as a means of conceptualizing how teams develop high levels of shared SA across members. Each of these four factors—requirements, devices, mechanisms and processes—act to help build team and shared SA. In time-critical decision-making processes, swift and effective choices are imperative to address and navigate urgent situations. In such scenarios,

5688-695: The situation in ways that the opponent cannot monitor or even comprehend. Losing one's own SA, in contrast, equates to being "out of the loop". Clearly, SA has far reaching applications, as it is necessary for individuals and teams to function effectively in their environment. Thus, SA has gone far beyond the field of aviation to work being conducted in a wide variety of environments. SA is being studied in such diverse areas as air traffic control , nuclear power plant operation, emergency response , maritime operations, space, oil and gas drilling, vehicle operation, and health care (e.g. anesthesiology and nursing ). The most widely cited and accepted model of SA

5767-870: The south are the Minneapolis , Cleveland (which covers the extreme southwestern area of Ontario), and New York air traffic control centres; to the west is the Winnipeg control centre. The Toronto ACC assumes control of the following classes of airports: Class C (Controlled, IFR /IFR, IFR/ VFR and VFR/VFR separation, VFR: Mode C and ATC clearance required) Class D (Controlled, IFR/IFR and IFR/VFR separation, VFR: 2-way communication required) Class E (Controlled, only IFR/IFR spacing) This FIR contains several Class G aerodromes that are in uncontrolled airspace and clearances are required to enter or leave controlled airspace. Airports under these classes include: Within each FIR, there are transmitter sites that allow

5846-475: The stresses and challenges faced by air traffic controllers in her 1984 study "The politics of stress: the case of air traffic control." published in the International journal of health services. In a study which compared stress in the general population and in this kind of systems markedly showed more stress level for controllers. This variation can be explained, at least in part, by the characteristics of

5925-708: The task and environmental factors that also affect their ability to get SA. It describes in detail the three levels of SA formation: perception, comprehension, and projection. Perception (Level 1 SA) : The first step in achieving SA is to perceive the status, attributes, and dynamics of relevant elements in the environment. Thus, Level 1 SA, the most basic level of SA, involves the processes of monitoring, cue detection, and simple recognition, which lead to an awareness of multiple situational elements (objects, events, people, systems, environmental factors) and their current states (locations, conditions, modes, actions). Comprehension (Level 2 SA) : The next step in SA formation involves

6004-429: The technology dramatically decreases. Unsurprisingly, they also found that air traffic controllers enjoy the core tasks of their role: namely, conflict detection and resolution. In 2014, it was reported that in the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration had stopped giving preferential treatment to air-traffic controller applicants who had passed classes from the 36 FAA-approved college aviation programs across

6083-522: Was developed by Dr. Mica Endsley , which has been shown to be largely supported by research findings. Lee, Cassano-Pinche, and Vicente found that Endsley's Model of SA received 50% more citations following its publication than any other paper in Human Factors compared to other papers in the 30 year period of their review. Endsley's model describes the cognitive processes and mechanisms that are used by people to assess situations to develop SA, and

6162-463: Was first defined formally by Endsley in 1988. Before being widely adopted by human factors scientists in the 1990s, the term is said to have been used by United States Air Force (USAF) fighter aircrew returning from war in Korea and Vietnam . They identified having good SA as the decisive factor in air combat engagements—the "ace factor". Survival in a dogfight was typically a matter of observing

6241-596: Was part of the government and controllers were civil servants. However, many countries have partly or wholly privatized their air traffic control systems; others are looking to do the same. Civilian Air Traffic Controllers' licensing is standardized by international agreement through ICAO . Many countries have Air Traffic Control schools, academies or colleges, often operated by the incumbent provider of air traffic services in that country, but sometimes privately. These institutions are structured to provide training to individuals without any prior air traffic control experience. At

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