Abstract
Human factors certification criteria are being developed for large civil aircraft with the objective of reducing the incidence of design-induced error on the flight deck. Many formal error identification techniques currently exist which have been developed in non-aviation contexts but none have been validated for use to this end. This paper describes a new human error identification technique (HET - Human Error Template) designed specifically as a diagnostic tool for the identification of design induced error on the flight deck. HET is benchmarked against three existing techniques (SHERPA - Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach; Human Error HAZOP - Hazard and Operability study; and HEIST - Human Error In Systems Tool). HET outperforms all three existing techniques in a validation study comparing predicted errors to actual errors reported during an approach and landing task in a modern, highly automated commercial aircraft. It is concluded that HET should provide a useful tool as a adjunct to the proposed human factors certification process.
