CORRECT PERCEPTION AND AWARENESS OF ATTITUDE AND ENERGY STATE IS A FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT FOR SAFE FLIGHT. AIRCRAFT ARE EQUIPPED WITH PRIMARY FLIGHT INSTRUMENTATION FOR CONTROL PERFORMANCE NAVIGATION AND SYSTEM SUPPORT. CONSIDERABLE ADVANCES HAVE BEEN MADE IN INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC FLIGHT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (EFIS) TO PROVIDE FLIGHT CREWS WITH INFORMATION FOR CONTROL OF AIRCRAFT ATTITUDE AND ENERGY STATE THROUGHOUT ALL PHASES OF FLIGHT. THE SAFETY RECORD OF PART 121 AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS IS EXCELLENT MAKING COMMERCIAL AIR TRANSPORT THE SAFEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION. IN ADDITION TO RIGOROUSLY DESIGNED AVIONICS AND RELIABLE AIRCRAFT PROPULSION AND CONTROLSYSTEMS (PART 25 FAR) PART 121 OPERATIONS ARE PERFORMED BY TWO-PILOT CREWS TRAINED TO VERY HIGH STANDARDS. HOWEVER RECENT ACCIDENT DATA [1] INDICATES A TREND IN THE WRONG DIRECTION PARTICULARLY AMONG INTERNATIONAL OPERATORS. A NUMBER OF RECENT ACCIDENTS HAVE OCCURRED WITH HIGHLY AUTOMATED MODERN AIRCRAFT WHERE FLIGHT CREWS EXPERIENCED A LOSS OF ATTITUDE STATE AWARENESS (LASA) AND/OR A LOSS OF ENERGY STATE AWARENESS (LESA). THE RECENT AIR FRANCE 447 ACCIDENT (5/31/2009) IS A STARK EXAMPLE OF AN ACCIDENT DUE TO LESA DESPITE ENVELOPE PROTECTION AND A WELL-TRAINED CREW. WHILE THE MAJORITY OF THESE ACCIDENTS HAVE OCCURRED UNDER THE WATCH OF FOREIGN OPERATORS THE TREND DATA CAN SERVE AS A WARNING TO US OPERATORS AND REGULATORY ORGANIZATIONS THAT ADDITIONAL SAFEGUARDS SHOULD BE DESIGNED PARTICULARLY WITH THE UPCOMING TRANSITION TO NEW OPERATING CONCEPTS SUCH AS NEXGEN THAT WILL INCREASE THE DEGREE OF AUTOMATION SUPPORT ON THE FLIGHT DECK WITH AN EVER-INCREASING OPERATIONAL TEMPO AND TRAFFIC DENSITIES. WE HAVE ASSEMBLED AN EXCELLENT TEAM TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES THROUGH RIGOROUS ENGINEERING ANALYSIS VISUAL AND AUDITORY DISPLAY COUNTERMEASURES DESIGN AND TESTING OFTHOSE DESIGNS IN A FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND FLIGHT TEST AIRCRAFT. OUR TEAM COMPRISES EXPERTS FROM BOEING AN AIRFRAME MANUFACTURER ROCKWELL COLLINS AN AVIONICS MANUFACTURER AND THE OPERATOR PERFORMANCE LABORATORY (OPL) AN ACADEMIC FLIGHT SIMULATION AND FLIGHT TEST ORGANIZATION. OUR TEAM HAS A TRACK RECORD OF RESEARCH IN THE AREAS OF LASA/LESA ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS COUNTERMEASURES DESIGN AND EVALUATION NEXTGEN CENTRIC AVIONICS DESIGN AND SYNTHETIC/ENHANCED VISION RESEARCH IN SIMULATION AND FLIGHT TEST. THE PROJECT IS PROGRAMMED AS A THREE-YEAR EFFORT WITH YEAR 1 FOCUSING ON ANALYSIS YEAR 2 ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF FLIGHT-DECK INTERVENTIONS AND YEAR 3 ON SIMULATION AND FLIGHT TEST EVALUATION. YEAR 1 RESEARCH INVOLVES A DETAILED REASSESSMENT OF THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS OF LASA/LESA A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF PAST BASELINE ACCIDENTS AND FUTURE RISK FACTORS WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON NEXGEN OPERATIONS AND JOINT CREW-AUTOMATION FAILURE MODES. YEAR 2 ACTIVITIES INCLUDE A COGNITIVE TASK ANALYSIS (CTA) WITH EMPHASIS ON NEXGEN OPERATIONS THE DEVELOPMENT AND DOWN-SELECTION OF FLIGHT-DECK INTERVENTIONS AND AN ANALYSIS OF MOTION ENVELOPE TECHNIQUES FOR LASA/LESA RESEARCH IN TYPICAL LEVEL D FLIGHT SIMULATION FACILITIES. YEAR 3 INVOLVES TWO TEST SPIRALS ON THE NASA RESEARCH FLIGHT DECK (RFD)SIMULATOR INTERLEAVED WITH TWO TEST SPIRALS ON THE INSTRUMENTED OPL L-29 FLIGHT TEST AIRCRAFT FOLLOWED BY ONE ADDITIONAL VALIDATION SPIRAL ON THE L-29 AT THE END OF YEAR 3. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR WILL BE DR. TOM SCHNELL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA OPERATOR PERFORMANCE LABORATORY (OPL). DR. JACK DWYER IS A CO-INVESTIGATOR AND BOEING TECHNICAL FELLOW WITH THE BOEING RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATION. DR. FRED RUDOLPH IS A CO-INVESTIGATOR IN THIS PROJECT AND PRINCIPAL ENGINEERING MANAGER AT THE ROCKWELL COLLINS ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY CENTER (ATC). ADDITIONAL KEY PERSONNEL INCLUDE MR. TIMOTHY J. ETHERINGTON FROM ROCKWELL COLLINS DR. RANDALL J. MUMAW ELAINE THORPE AND DR. MICHAEL P. SNOW FROM THE BOEING COMPANY.