Visual Monitoring Behavior in Dual- and Reduced-Crew Configurations During Abnormal Events
Nicola PUCA, Marco POGLIANO, Gabriele LUZZANI, Giorgio GUGLIERI, Danilo DEMARCHI
Abstract. The proposed reduction in commercial flight crew sizes, together with evolving cockpit operational concepts, introduces significant human factors challenges related to attention management, workload allocation, and pilot–automation interaction. Although such scenarios may be confined to specific flight phases, they highlight the continued importance of robust cockpit monitoring and have intensified interest in digital assistants to support task execution and decision-making. This study presents a comparative assessment of eye-tracking metrics and visual scanning strategies adopted by two professional pilots operating an A320 full-flight simulator. A representative short-haul mission was performed under nominal and abnormal conditions, including a hydraulic failure, in both dual- and single-pilot configurations. Gaze data were collected using Tobii Pro Glasses 3 and analyzed through an area-of-interest–based approach to characterize scanning pattern complexity. Preliminary results indicate distinct monitoring behaviors across conditions, largely influenced by the presence and modality of assistance.
Keywords
Cockpit Monitoring, Scanpath Analysis, Reduced-Crew Operations, Attention, A320 Flight Simulator
Published online 7/20/2026, 6 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Nicola PUCA, Marco POGLIANO, Gabriele LUZZANI, Giorgio GUGLIERI, Danilo DEMARCHI, Visual Monitoring Behavior in Dual- and Reduced-Crew Configurations During Abnormal Events, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 69, pp 1475-1480, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904251-259
The article was published as article 259 of the book CEAS – AIDAA Conference 2025
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
References
[1] Loss of Control Action Group, “Monitoring Matters: Guidance on the Development of Pilot Monitoring Skills,” Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), London, UK, CAA Paper 2013/02, 2013.
[2] R. \ Dismukes Key and B. Berman, “Checklists and Monitoring in the Cockpit: Why Crucial Defenses Sometimes Fail,” National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA, NASA Technical Memorandum (TM) NASA/TM-2010-216396, Jul. 2010. [Online]. Available: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20110011145
[3] X. Wu, X. Wanyan, and D. Zhuang, “Pilot’s Visual Attention Allocation Modeling Under Fatigue,” Technol. Health Care, vol. 23, no. Suppl.\;2, pp. S373–S381, 2015. https://doi.org/10.3233/THC-150974.
[4] U. S. D. of Defense, “Crew Systems Analysis: A Review of Aircrew Performance, Attention, and Monitoring,” Defense Technical Information Center, AD1000097, 2010. [Online]. Available: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD1000097.pdf
[5] C. Lounis, V. Peysakhovich, and M. Causse, “Visual scanning strategies in the cockpit are modulated by pilots’ expertise: A flight simulator study,” PLOS ONE, vol. 16, no. 2, p. e0247061, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247061.
[6] M. Friedrich, S. Y. Lee, P. Bates, W. Martin, and A. K. Faulhaber, “The influence of training level on manual flight in connection to performance, scan pattern, and task load,” Cogn. Technol. Work, vol. 23, pp. 715–730, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-020-00663-8.
[7] K. Holmqvist, M. Nyström, R. Andersson, R. Dewhurst, H. Jarodzka, and J. van de Weijer, Eye Tracking: A Comprehensive Guide to Methods and Measures. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
[8] L. Mengtao, L. Fan, X. Gangyan, and H. Su, “Leveraging eye-tracking technologies to promote aviation safety-a review of key aspects, challenges, and future perspectives,” Saf. Sci., vol. 168, p. 106295, 2023.
[9] O. Lefrançois, N. Matton, and M. Causse, “Improving Airline Pilots’ Visual Scanning and Manual Flight Performance through Training on Skilled Eye Gaze Strategies,” Safety, vol. 7, no. 4, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/safety7040070.
[10] L. Wang, Z. Zhang, W. Tan, and Z. Yang, “A Real‐Time Measurement Model of Attention‐Allocation Level and Its Application in Simulated SPO Task,” Int. J. Aerosp. Eng., vol. 2024, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/3901699.
[11] N. Puca and G. Guglieri, “Enabling Civil Single-Pilot Operations: A State-of-the-Art Review,” Aerotec. Missili Spaz., vol. 104, pp. 187–212, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42496-024-00223-7.
[12] D. D. Salvucci and J. H. Goldberg, “Identifying fixations and saccades in eye-tracking protocols,” in Proceedings of the Eye Tracking Research & Applications (ETRA’00), 2000, pp. 71–78. https://doi.org/10.1145/355017.355028.
