Enhancing Taxi Performance under Low Visibility: Are Moving Maps Enough?

We report the results of an experiment evaluating the separate and combined effects of a 3-D perspective moving map and newly developed Head-Up Display symbology on taxi performance in low visibility. Nine commercial airline pilots completed a series of gate-to-runway taxi routes at a simulated Chicago-O'Hare. Relative to a baseline condition, in which in-the-cockpit navigation support was confined to Jeppesen paper map, the 3-D moving map yielded a nonsignificant increase in taxi speed. The combination of electronic moving map and Head-Up Display yielded a considerably larger and statistically significant increase in taxi speed. These results suggest that in low visibility, Head-Up Displays can substantially improve taxi performance, over and above any improvements associated with 3-D moving maps.