Comeau-Duggan Pilot Workload Index: Data Analysis

For many years there has been a keen focus on pilot workload and its associated assessment methods, and it remains a highly relevant aspect of flight testing. This paper provides a synopsis of a novel workload rating scale and index, the Comeau-Duggan Pilot Workload Index, designed to bridge the gaps in existing subjective workload metrics – such as casual factor identification – that are present in the most widely used rating scales in flight tests. The conceptualization and development of this index represent a multi-year, dual-national research effort that builds on the foundational concepts and core principles underlying widely accepted workload rating scales used in Human Factors and Handling Qualities engineering. The Pilot Workload Index provides a structured and rigorous methodology for ascertaining and distinguishing factors that have contributed to the pilot workload of a given flying task, evaluating their impact using a systematic suffix-flowchart framework. The Pilot Workload Index was developed and assessed in piloted flight simulation trials conducted by University of Liverpool and in real-world flight trials conducted by the National Research Centre Canada for Ship-Helicopter Operating Limit and Roll-Step Mission Task Element assessments. Other scales were used during these trials (Bedford Workload Rating scale, NASA Task Load Index and Deck Interface Pilot Effort Scale, as appropriate) to compare results with the new rating scale. This paper presents a subset of the detailed Pilot Workload Index data recorded during flight simulation trials. It also explores the insights that can be derived from the data, highlighting the benefits of the Pilot Workload Index in workload assessments in flight tests.