 just an experimental crash. Scenes like this seem to dominate television news with some newspaper headlines when they occur. Statistics show that 60% to 80% of all aircraft accidents are caused by human error. Unfortunately, airspace, like our freeways, is becoming crowded. A new NASA Flight Simulation Laboratory called the Land Vehicle Systems Research Facility at the Ames Research Center is addressing human factors which relate to pilot and crew performance errors. The facility, in Mountain View, California, houses the most realistic commercial transport Boeing 727 aircraft simulation system in the world, as well as an advanced simulator being used to test and develop the cockpits of the next generation commercial aircraft. Facility manager, Bob Shiner, talks about the Boeing 727 cab. To do human factors, we found that we have to create a full mission environment. We have to give the pilot exactly the same scenario he's exposed to in the real world. Otherwise, he believes he's in a simulator, in a box. But if we provide all the cues that he finds in the real world, then we found that he'll behave the same way, psychologically. And that's what we're studying. Fire. Central. Check. 727, we're declined emergency at this time. 727, we're late on approved. Professional air traffic controllers and pilots sit at consoles in the facility, and a vial realistic flight environment for the pilot and crew in the simulator. Or later study, video cameras and voice recorders document physical behavior of the pilot and other participants in the simulation. The principal investigator can monitor every aspect of the simulation, from instrument settings to tracking the pilot's eye movements. Topics such as windshield, pilot workload, jet lag, and fatigue are currently slated for study. Senior scientist Dr. Charles Billings. The fire, or indeed any other malfunction, is simply a way of causing the pilot to have to do some sort of decision making and some sort of behavior that he does not normally have to do in the course of routine flying. And it's the mechanisms of that behavior that we are really studying to try to help him and all flight crew members do a better job of decision making under difficult circumstances. V1. Rotate. The advanced concept simulator is a tool for designing the cockpits of the future. The hope is to replace many of the switches and dios found in today's aircraft with less cluttered instrument panels that are easier to use and can monitor aircraft functions better. The manned vehicle systems research facility, solving in-flight human factors problems without leaving the ground.