Improving Air Traffic Identification by Conducting Refresher Training of Analog and Digital Clocks

Air traffic controllers (ATC) frequently alert pilots to air traffic using an analog clock metaphor. When ATC issues a traffic alert indicating that traffic is at 2 o’clock, the pilot should look approximately 60° to the right for traffic. Because multiple aircraft may be in the pilot’s visual view, confirmation that the traffic is in sight does not verify that the pilot has identified the correct aircraft. Moreover, time to identify traffic using an analog clock metaphor may be slower for younger pilots compared to their older counterparts due to possible limited exposure to analog clocks. Thirty-two participants were divided into either an analog or digital clock refresher training group. Each of these groups were further divided into reviewing clocks presented at the top of the hour (e.g., 11:00) or in 15-minute increments (e.g., 11:00, 11:15). Each group flew an aviation flight training device configured to a Cessna 172 for approximately 15 minutes once before the refresher training and once after the refresher training. On three occasions during each flight, response time to identify traffic was measured. Identification of traffic for the digital group improved by 1.45 seconds after the refresher training, but only by .87 second for the analog group. This significant difference was only found for the top of the hour refresher training group. Deeper conceptualization required to transfer digital clocks to an analog representation may account for this improvement. Refresher training to convert digital time to analog clock representations may benefit student pilots’ identification of traffic faster.