Jonas Dino/Veronika Soukhovitskaya              July 22, 2002
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone:  650/604-5612/650/604-0444 or 604-9000
E-mail: jdino@mail.arc.nasa.gov or vsoukhovitskaya@mail.arc.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 02-84AR

NASA'S INTERACTIVE TRAINING TOOL MAKES GENERAL AVIATION SAFER

A unique and revolutionary aviation training tool, available to everyone 
on the Internet, is making general aviation safer than ever by helping 
pilots manage fatigue.

The interactive, online General Aviation Education and Training Module 
provides information for general aviation pilots about how to manage 
'alertness' issues during flight operations. The Fatigue Countermeasures 
Group at NASA Ames Research Center, in California's Silicon Valley, 
created the module to mitigate incidents and accidents due to fatigue. Dr. 
Melissa Mallis of NASA Ames is the project's principal investigator.

"This easy-to-use, hands-on module is designed for people in complex 
environments, facing challenging schedules, yet seeking to enhance 
safety," said Ray Oyung, a senior research associate in Ames' Information 
Sciences and Technology Directorate.

The primary audiences for this online training are commercial and general 
aviation pilots, but the training also can be beneficial to aviation 
managers, mechanics, medical flight crews and law enforcement personnel. 
Topics discussed during the training include causes of fatigue and 
strategies to help manage it, the importance of sleep, factors associated 
with sleep loss, sleepiness, circadian rhythms and signs of fatigue.

The training module can be completed in 40 minutes, but it also is broken 
down into segments for shorter, more tailored and recurrent viewing 
sessions. The system requirements to complete training on the Internet are 
a Macromedia Flash 5 Player and Netscape Navigator, version 3.0 or higher.

The Web-based version of the training was created to reach more people, 
with a focus on general aviation pilots who may not have easy access to 
this type of information. Fatigue countermeasures training previously was 
available only at two-day workshops conducted at NASA Ames and attended 
heavily by the commercial airline community.

"This valuable training is meant to be spread and shared with others to 
increase safety -- everywhere, for everybody, at all times," said Oyung.

The NASA Ames Fatigue Countermeasures Group was created in 1980 in 
response to a congressional concern about safety in aviation related to 
flying long or rapidly recurring flight segments and the resultant crew 
fatigue. Since that time, NASA Ames researchers have conducted studies in 
a variety of full-mission flight simulations, aviation field studies and 
space-related research.

Since1993, NASA Ames researchers have conducted 34 two-day workshops with 
nearly 700 attendees and 240 organizations from 21 countries. Development 
of the General Aviation Education and Training Module started in 1999.

To access the online training, visit:

http://human-factors.arc.nasa.gov/zteam/fcp/WebGA-ETM.intro.html

More information about the NASA Ames Fatigue Countermeasures Group is 
available at:

http://human-factors.arc.nasa.gov/zteam/


-end-