Ability of deutan color defectives to perform simulated air traffic control tasks

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Human Factors Engineering
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Air traffic controllers require normal color vision for critical tasks.
• The necessity of normal color vision for this role is under review.
• Color vision standards are essential for aviation safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of deutan color vision deficiency on air traffic controller task performance.
• To determine if mild deutan defectives can safely perform job tasks.
• To assess color vision test scoring methods as predictors of task performance.

Main Methods:

• Tested 22 deutans and 78 normals on simulated air traffic control tasks.
• Tasks included discriminating colors on flight strips, color naming, and identifying colored segments.
• Explored various color vision test scoring methods, including the D-15 relative error score.

Main Results:

• Mild deutans performed all tasks comparably to normals.
• Moderate deutans only matched normals on large disc color naming.
• Severe deutans did not perform any tasks as well as normals.
• The D-15 relative error score best predicted task performance (r-square = 0.602).

Conclusions:

• Mild deutan color vision defectives possess adequate color vision for critical air traffic control tasks.
• Moderate and severe deutans' color vision is insufficient for safe task performance.
• Color vision test scoring can predict group performance but not individual capabilities.