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Strategies in controlling, coordinating and adapting performance in air traffic control: modelling ‘loss of control’ events

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Abstract

The continued growth of civil aviation and the introduction of new air traffic management systems have increased the complexity of the system, hence requiring more adaptable patterns of control and coordination. There is a need to look deeper into the patterns of control, the transfer of control and coordination across boundaries or sectors and the adaptation to unexpected scenarios that may contribute to ‘loss of control’ events. To this end, this article elaborates on the extended control model (Hollnagel and Woods 2005) and complements a functional description of the air traffic control (ATC) system with several strategies required in ‘being in control’ of the joint cognitive system. Reviews of the literature, field studies and observations of performance in ATC have been used to model ‘loss of control’ events as problems in adapting control strategies in order to (1) maintain control of actions, (2) transfer control, (3) coordinate and (4) choose new modes of functioning and recovery when control breaks down. These control aspects are useful for debriefing controllers after critical events and identifying system performance flaws that can provide input to ergonomic interventions, such as the design of new air traffic management systems, decision aids and role allocation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece

    Tom Kontogiannis

  2. Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, Rhodes/Diagoras International Airport, Rhodes, Greece

    Stathis Malakis

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  1. Tom Kontogiannis
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  2. Stathis Malakis
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Correspondence to Tom Kontogiannis.

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Kontogiannis, T., Malakis, S. Strategies in controlling, coordinating and adapting performance in air traffic control: modelling ‘loss of control’ events. Cogn Tech Work 15, 153–169 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-011-0209-0

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