Against the challenges of autonomy and increasing technology, aviation must improve and address the key issue of ineffective flight path monitoring in continuing to raise the industry’s high and exacting safety standards and record. National regulators and transport have recognised flight path monitoring as a major contributor to aircraft accidents, incidents, and near misses, but current regulations do not address pilot active monitoring skills.

With aircrew needing to monitor increasingly complex aircraft and systems, and with increased dependency on automation, situational awareness through effective scanning is critically important. Precision eye tracking helps overcome a weakness in traditional simulator training in understanding aircrew behaviour, decision-making, and attention levels, through observing pilots’ scan patterns.

Head-Up Displays (HUDs) and Head-Up Guidance Systems (HGS) are increasingly prevalent in single- and multi-crew cockpits, and they are recognised as a powerful tool for accident prevention in substantially reducing crew error, and improving aircrew situational awareness (Flight Safety Foundation, 1991). Combined eye-tracking with HUD adds value beyond reduced errors and increased SA, in helping maximise professional training efficiency and effectiveness through enabling Competency- and Evidence-Based Training; supporting data-driven training programs; extracting instructors’ high-value knowledge & experience; and enabling effective brief, debrief, and learning opportunities.

HUD/HGS, when integrated with eye-tracking solutions as a training tool, with instructor and pilot input, and supported by visual and instructional learning tools, develops value beyond real-time gaze tracking, into safety, organisational, and operational capability drivers.