Locating Crash Sites in Simulated Air-to-Ground Visual Search

Eye-movements of search-and-rescue specialists and trained spotters were filmed with a eye-marker camera during visual search. Thirty-six subjects searched five 16-mm color films of approaches to actual aircraft crash sites photographed from 150 m at 220 km/h and signalled any possible sightings obtained during the approach and fly-by of the sites. The 8-mm film records of eye-movements were analyzed to obtain information on crash site detections and the reporting of possible sightings as a function of search experience and visual coverage. Data on fixation durations and types of scan patterns are also presented.