title: Flying the Needles: Flight Deck Automation Erodes Fine-Motor Flying Skills Among Airline Pilots.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of practice and training on fine-motor flying skills during a manual instrument landing system (ILS) approach.
  
  
  
  There is an ongoing debate that manual flying skills of long-haul crews suffer from a lack of flight practice due to conducting only a few flights per month and the intensive use of automation. However, objective evidence is rare.
  
  
  
  One hundred twenty-six randomly selected airline pilots had to perform a manual flight scenario with a raw data precision approach. Pilots were assigned to four equal groups according to their level of practice and training by fleet (short-haul, long-haul) and rank (first officer, captain).
  
  
  
  Average ILS deviation scores differed significantly in relation to the group assignments. The strongest predictor variable was fleet, indicating degraded performance among long-haul pilots.
  
  
  
  Manual flying skills are subject to erosion due to a lack of practice on long-haul fleets: All results support the conclusion that recent flight practice is a significantly stronger predictor for fine-motor flying performance than the time period since flight school or even the total or type-specific flight experience.
  
  
  
  Long-haul crews have to be supported in a timely manner by adequate training tailored to address manual skills or by operational provisions like mixed-fleet flying or more frequent transitions between short-haul and long-haul operation.
authors.affiliation: Technical University of Munich, Germany haslbeck@tum.de.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haslbeck
authors.affiliation: German Aerospace Center, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Juergen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hoermann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000401:Aircraft; D001331:Automation / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D000070356:Pilots / Q000592:standards*; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D000066477:Work Performance
keywords: automation; information processing; manual controls; perceptual-motor performance; skilled performance