Rollout and Turnoff (ROTO) Guidance and Information Displays Effect on Runway Occupancy Time in Simulated Low-Visibility Landings

This report examines a rollout and turnoff (ROTO) system for reducing the runway occupancy time for transport aircraft in low-visibility weather. Simulator runs were made to evaluate the system that includes a head-up display (HUD) to show the pilot a graphical overlay of the runway along with guidance and steering information to a chosen exit. Fourteen pilots (airline, corporate jet, and research pilots) collectively flew a total of 560 rollout and turnoff runs using all eight runways at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. The runs consisted of 280 runs for each of two runway visual ranges (RVRs) (300 and 1200 ft). For each visual range, half the runs were conducted with the HUD information and half without. For the runs conducted with the HUD information, the runway occupancy times were lower and more consistent. The effect was more pronounced as visibility decreased. For the 1200-ft visibility, the runway occupancy times were 13 percent lower with HUD information (46.1 versus 52.8 sec). Similarly, for the 300-ft visibility, the times were 28 percent lower (45.4 versus 63.0 sec). Also, for the runs with HUD information, 78 percent (RVR 1200) and 75 percent (RVR 300) had runway occupancy times less than 50 sec, versus 41 and 20 percent, respectively, without HUD information.