Engineering Commons^™

Situation Awareness Assessment Of Enhanced Stable Approach Flight Instrument Displays, David J. Hunter

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Through the year 2022, runway-related events, including excursions, abnormal runway contact, and runway undershoot and overshoot, were the third leading causes of fatal aircraft accidents. Principal to these runway-related accidents was the presence of an unstable approach. Pilots currently must depend on the timely recall of stable approach criteria stored in long-term memory, application of those criteria against current flight conditions, perception and cognition of deviation from those criteria, and determination of potential courses of action. Such recall is fallible, and challenges to perception and cognition are ever-present.

This study examined whether the presentation of stable approach criteria boundaries and …

Exploring A New Conceptual Framework In Aviation Maintenance Incident Reporting Using Natural Language Processing, Christopher P. Braun

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

In the analysis of human error incidents, human factors specialists predominantly follow two schools of thought in categorization strategies. One is to categorize the operator’s actions by the physical properties of the activity (phenotypes); the other focuses on the cognitive behaviors preceding the incident (genotypes). These categorization strategies are intended to foster an understanding of the events, identify risks, and assist in the implementation of risk reduction interventions. Commercial aviation maintenance presents unique challenges to human factor practitioners in terms of task requirements, working environments, communication modalities, and safety standards. Complex tasks are handed from one shift of personnel to …

Evaluating Flight Crew Decision-Making Through Part 121 Taxi Operations, Grant Marsh

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

With the mandate of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) going into effect at the start of 2020, commercial companies have been able to log and store information on aircraft identification, airspeed, heading, and altitude all in one database.to Now, anyone can access previously hard-to-obtain flight data for analysis using a commercially available database. While ADS-B provides information on “what is happening,” information on “why” flight crews operate aircraft in a certain way is not incorporated into ADS-B.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) collects reports written by flight crews, Air Traffic Control Specialists, and other …

Implementation Of Path Planning Methods To Detect And Avoid Gps Signal Degradation In Urban Environments, Ayush Raminedi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

In the modern world, various missions are being carried out under the assistance of autonomous flight vehicles due to their ability to operate in a wide range of flight conditions. Regardless, these autonomous vehicles are prone to GPS signal loss in urban environments due to obstructions that cause scintillation, multi-path, and shadowing. These effects that decrease the GPS functionality can deteriorate the accuracy of GPS positioning causing losses in signal tracking leading to a decrease in navigation performance. These effects are modeled into the simulation environment and are used as part of the path planning algorithm to provide better navigation …

Passenger Traits That Predict The Bystander Intervention Model Steps During An Inflight Assault On A Flight Attendant, Michael Pettit

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Every major U.S. airline has experienced a violent inflight assault on one of their flight attendants. The problem is becoming more widespread, but industry leaders have few coping strategies. The first step toward addressing the issue is understanding the various aspects of the event, including the actions of other passengers (bystanders) who may witness the assault. There is ample literature on bystander reactions to similar events such as bullying, medical emergencies, injuries, and violent attacks, but none dedicated to a flight attendant assault or passenger reactions to it.

At the core of bystander action is the bystander effect, which postulates …

The Elements Of Governance And Their Association With Aviation Safety Oversight Effectiveness, João Souza Dias Garcia

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

States and their respective national civil aviation authorities promote the improvement of the global civil aviation system by developing and enforcing safety regulations for aircraft design, operations, personnel training, infrastructure, and air traffic management, among other topics. For many years, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has driven the continuous improvement of states’ safety oversight functions, supporting them in evaluating the effectiveness of these functions by conducting audits under the Organization’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP). While the benefits of these assessments have been broadly recognized, scholarly literature on the factors commonly associated with safety oversight effectiveness across states …

Emergent Themes Of Operational Safety At Urban Air Mobility At Vertiports: The Stakeholder Perspective, Tracy Leigh Lamb

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The emerging urban air mobility (UAM) industry is dynamic, complex, and still highly conceptual, as vertiports are not currently an operational reality in the United States. The UAM vertiport is at the epicenter of the emerging advanced aviation ecosystem, representing significant operating costs of approximately $130 million per year and more than that to design, develop, and implement. In addition to setting up and operating capital, there are considerable challenges relating to the safe design, development location, and operation of UAM vertiports, representing the confluence of human and autonomous systems, whose interdependence is not yet fully understood. UAM vertiport stakeholders …

Identification And Validation Of A Predicted Risk-Taking Propensity Model Among General Aviation Pilots, Joel Samu

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Risk-taking, a persistent topic of interest and concern in aviation, has been linked with unsafe behaviors and accidents. However, risk-taking propensity is a complex construct that encompasses numerous factors still being researched. Even within the limited research available about the factors affecting pilots’ risk-taking propensity, studies have yielded inconsistent results. Therefore, this quantitative study explores existing and novel factors that predict the propensity for risk-taking among general aviation (GA) pilots in the United States.

This study, conducted in two stages, involved developing a prediction model using backward stepwise regression to predict pilots’ risk propensity, followed by model fit testing using …

Writing Matters: Investigating The Quality Of Collegiate Aviation Incident Report Narratives, Kayla D. Taylor

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Strong communication skills are fundamental to workplace success in the field of aviation. Numerous studies have shown that a deficiency in communication skills contributes to aviation accidents, and, as a result, the development of communication competencies within the aviation industry has received considerable critical attention. Understanding the acquisition and subsequent progression of writing skills throughout a pilot’s education, specifically in preparatory aviation courses, is an emerging area of research in aviation communication.

This study examined how the level of supplemental discipline-specific guidance affects the writing quality of incident report narratives composed by collegiate pilot students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). …

Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Operator Workload And Situation Awareness Utilizing First Person View Techniques, Ross Lucas Stephenson Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The small, unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) sector within the aviation industry is experiencing unprecedented growth. However, the regulatory guidance for the safe integration of sUAS into the National Airspace System (NAS) has not kept pace with this technological growth within the market. Current regulatory limitations of line-of-sight operations may have an impact on the establishment of an equivalent level of safety for sUAS operations as maintained by manned aircraft. The focal point of the discussion of line-of-sight operations has been the ability of the sUAS pilot to see and avoid all obstacles and other aircraft in a safe and timely …

Utilizing Flight Data Monitoring At A Part 141 Flight School To Determine Predictors For Unstabilized Approaches And Go-Arounds, Hannah Rooney

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

As general aviation accident rates are much higher than those of Part 121 air carriers, and the approach and landing phase of flight accounts for more accidents than any other phase of flight, the study of the approach and landing phase of flight is warranted in greater detail. Flight Data Monitoring provides an excellent source of data for the study of individual landing parameters. The intent of this study was to evaluate potential predictors of unstable approaches as well as go-arounds.

Flight data provided by a Part 141 flight school was examined to determine predictors for unstable approaches and go-arounds. …

Loss Of Control In-Flight (Loc-I): A Mixed Methods Study Of Voluntary Versus Mandatory Reports From The United States Of America, Roger Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Loss of control in flight (LOC-I) is one of modern aviation’s three most prominent fatal accidents. In the United States, air accidents are mandatorily reported to and investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Established in 1976, the Air Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is a voluntary safety reporting (VSR) system administered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Over 1.7 million ASRS reports have been processed to date. While the NTSB system handles LOC-I accidents, less severe incidents may have been reported voluntarily through the ASRS.

Safety reporting has been deemed the most valuable activity and the centerpiece …

Enhancing Cyberspace Monitoring In The United States Aviation Industry: A Multi-Layered Approach For Addressing Emerging Threats, Matthew Janson

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This research project examined the cyberspace domain in the United States (U.S.) aviation industry from many different angles. The research involved learning about the U.S. aviation cyberspace environment, the landscape of cyber threats, new technologies like 5G and smart airports, cybersecurity frameworks and best practices, and the use of aviation cyberspace monitoring capabilities. The research looked at how vulnerable the aviation industry is from cyber-attacks, analyzed the possible effects of cyber-attacks on the industry, and suggests ways to improve the industry's cybersecurity posture. The project's main goal was to protect against possible cyber-attacks and make sure that the aviation industry …

Machine Learning And Artificial Intelligence Methods For Cybersecurity Data Within The Aviation Ecosystem, Anna Baron Garcia

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Aviation cybersecurity research has proven to be a complex topic due to the intricate nature of the aviation ecosystem. Over the last two decades, research has been centered on isolated modules of the entire aviation systems, and it has lacked the state-of-the-art tools (e.g. ML/AI methods) that other cybersecurity disciplines have leveraged in their fields. Security research in aviation in the last two decades has mainly focused on: (i) reverse engineering avionics and software certification; (ii) communications due to the rising new technologies of Software Defined Radios (SDRs); (iii) networking cybersecurity concerns such as the inter and intra connections of …

Determining Contributing Factors For Passenger Airline Pilot Perceived Fatigue, Heidi C. Kim

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Fatigue is a recurring concern for pilots and continues to be a common contributing cause of aircraft accidents. The purpose of the dissertation was to determine factors that influence fatigue in commercial airline pilots. The ability to accurately associate fatigue in pilots before a flight begins could have a profound and meaningful impact on aviation safety. Seven factors were identified in the literature review as having possible predictive capabilities of perceived fatigue in pilots working for passenger carriers, including time awake, perceived stress, sleep quality, hours of sleep, age, typically scheduled start time, and hours on duty.

An …

Prediction Of Severity Of Aviation Landing Accidents Using Support Vector Machine Models, Dezsö V. Silagyi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to apply support vector machine (SVM) models to predict the severity of aircraft damage and the severity of personal injury during an aircraft approach and landing accident and to evaluate and rank the importance of 14 accident factors to the severity. Three new factors were introduced using the theory of inattentional blindness: The presence of visual area surface penetrations for a runway, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) visual area surface penetration policy timeframe, and the type of runway approach lighting.

The study comprised 1,297 aircraft approach and landing accidents at airports within the United …

Noise And Time Pressure Effects On Situation Awareness And Aviation Maintenance Tasks, Syaza R. M. Haris

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs) working in a line maintenance work setting are very susceptible to the deafening occupational noise from the airport vicinity or the maintenance machinery itself. Compared to a base maintenance working period, a line maintenance job requires AMTs to complete a task within a short time frame. The current study's objective is to determine if different noise levels and time pressure influence AMTs' performance and situation awareness (SA). Sixteen Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students majoring in Aviation Maintenance Science participated in a within-subject experimental design. Each participant's performance, SA level, and perceived workload were measured during maintenance tasks …

Identification Of Factors Associated With Fume Events Using Text Mining And Data Mining Methods, Mary B. O'Connor

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Pilots, flight attendants, and passengers can be exposed to toxic compounds when the bleed air that supplies the cabin and flight deck is contaminated with pyrolyzed hydraulic fluid or oil from turbine jet engines. These fume events occur sporadically and can result in acute or chronic exposure in air crews and can have catastrophic consequences if flight crew members become impaired or incapacitated. The purpose of this research was to explore unstructured textual data and identify important factors associated with these events. Models using machine learning algorithms were developed and tested using variables gleaned from the text mining process and …

Pilot Perception Of Cockpit Organizational Framework’S Impact On Flight Safety And Subordinate Pilot Behavior, Robert D. Allen

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Past accidents have indicated that first officers (FO) are less likely to identify and correct captain errors than captains are to correct FO errors. Crew resource management (CRM) training was introduced in the late 1970s to improve captain teamwork skills to utilize the FO more effectively and to increase FO willingness to interject to preserve safety. Despite the effectiveness of CRM training programs, there continue to be incidences where subordinate pilots make weak or ineffective attempts to preserve safety.

This research investigated commercial and airline transport pilots’ perception of the impact cockpit organizational framework (COF) has on both flight safety …

Air Traffic Controllers’ Occupational Stress And Performance In The Future Air Traffic Management, Hui Wang

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

As demand for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations increases, it is vital to understand its effects on air traffic controllers and the safety of the national airspace system. This study’s primary purpose is to determine how UAVs that operate in controlled airspace would influence air traffic controllers’ occupational stress and performance. In a within-subject experimental research design, 24 participants sampled from a university’s undergraduate Air Traffic Management (ATM) program completed three different air traffic control (ATC) scenarios on an en route ATC simulation system. The degree of UAV automation and control were varied in each scenario. The participants’ stress levels, …

A Comparison Of Safety Management Systems Training Methods At A Collegiate Flight-Training Institution, Mackenzie Tyler Dickson

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to compare how two different types of Safety Management Systems (SMS) training affect SMS knowledge in instructors and students in a university flight program. Additionally, the research sought to determine whether a correlation exists between safety knowledge and safety culture perception. An experimental research design was used to study two independent variables, training method and person type, and their effect of SMS knowledge. A non-experimental design was used to study the correlation between safety knowledge and safety culture perception. Research has shown that a safety-training program’s engagement level has an effect on the safety …

The Effects Of Carry-On Baggage On Aircraft Evacuation Efficiency, Sang-A Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The most frequent obstacle of an aircraft evacuation is the passengers carrying baggage while evacuating. Passengers who insist on taking their carry-on baggage during an emergency evacuation not only slow down the evacuation process but also act as a significant risk to the safety of other passengers. This study investigated the factors that affect passengers’ behavioral intention to evacuate with carry-on baggage and the effects of evacuating with carry-on baggage on the total evacuation time. Overall, two studies were conducted to provide an outline of the factors that affect and affected by carry-on baggage.

Study 1 used an agent-based model, …

Development Of A Safety Performance Decision-Making Tool For Flight Training Organization, Marisa D. Aguiar

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 141 flight training organizations are actively pursuing ways to increase operational safety by introducing advanced risk assessment and decision-making techniques. The purpose of the dissertation was to create and validate a safety performance decision-making tool to transform a reactive safety model into a predictive, safety performance decision-making tool, specific to large, collegiate Title 14 CFR Part 141 flight training organizations, to increase safety and aid in operational decision-making. The validated safety decision-making tool uses what-if scenarios to assess how changes to the controllable input variables impact the overall level of …

An Investigation Of Factors That Influence Passengers’ Intentions To Use Biometric Technologies At Airports, Kabir Olaseni Kasim

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Biometric technologies use the characteristics and measurements from humans to establish or verify their identity. Within an airport setting, biometric technologies can be used to hasten passenger processes such as airport check-in, baggage drop-off or pick-up, and aircraft boarding, thus enhancing the overall passenger experience.

This research investigated the factors that influence passengers’ intentions to choose the use of biometrics over other methods of identification. The current study utilized a quantitative research method via an online survey of 689 persons from Amazon ® Mechanical Turk ® (MTurk) and employed structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques for data analysis. The study utilized …

Examining Unstable Approach Predictors Using Flight Data Monitoring Information, David Alan Carroll

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The approach and landing phase of flight is statistically the most dangerous part of flying. While it only accounts for 4% of flight time, it represents 49% of commercial jet mishaps. One key to mitigating the risks involved in this flight segment is the stabilized approach. A stabilized approach requires meeting rigorous standards for many flight parameters as the aircraft nears landing. Exceeding any of these parameters results in an unstable approach (UA). The energy management (EM) accomplished by the flight crew, represented by the EM variables in the study, influences the execution of a stabilized approach.

While EM is …

Safety Systems, Culture, And Passengers’ Willingness To Fly In Autonomous Air Taxis, Kenneth Alexander Ward

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

As city populations grow, the transportation industry plans to alleviate traffic congestion by introducing the urban air mobility (UAM) concept, in which small passenger and cargo aircraft augment metropolitan transportation networks. A key component of UAM is that of air taxis, which are on-demand air services for individuals and small groups. In addition, UAM companies are designing the aircraft to operate fully autonomously: The intent is for the vehicles to arrive and transport people from point to point without input from human pilots.

In studies of passengers’ perceptions, researchers found that safety was among the top passenger concerns. The international …

Evaluating Scenarios That Can Startle And Surprise Pilots, Rahim Daud Agha

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Startle and surprise on the flight deck is a contributing factor in multiple aviation accidents that have been recognized by multiple aviation safety boards. This study identified the effects startle and surprise had on commercial pilots with single and multiengine ratings. Surprise is defined here as something unexpected (e.g., engine failure), while startle is the associated exaggerated effect of an unexpected condition (e.g., thunder sound). Forty pilots were tested in a basic aviation training device configured to a Cessna 172 (single-engine) and a Baron 58 (multi-engine). Each pilot flew the single- and multiengine aircraft in a scenario that induced an …

Cybersecurity Vulnerability Analysis And Countermeasures Of Commercial Aircraft Avionic Systems, Dhafer Fayez Alqushayri

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Nowadays, most commercial aircraft use systems with innovative technologies and unprecedented infrastructure of avionics applications which include cyber technologies. Airplane passengers are now using aviation cyber technologies when purchasing tickets, checking in at the airline counter, passing through airport security, and connecting to Wi-Fi and the embedded inflight entertainment system.

Cyber technologies and connectivity expose aviation to a dangerous and costly world of cyber threats that pose a major challenge of an attack which makes the risks difficult to understand or to define. In addition, the opportunities for attacks continually grow as new services and systems are developed. This thesis …

Pilot Acceptance Of Personal, Wearable Fatigue Monitoring Technology: An Application Of The Extended Technology Acceptance Model, Rachelle Lynne Strong

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The research problem of pilot fatigue has been referenced as a causal factor for aircraft accidents in many United States National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) accident reports; however, the United States Code of Federal Regulations 14 CFR Part 117, Flight and Duty Limitations and Rest Requirements for Flight Crew Members, does not provide a tangible means of measuring fatigue for aircraft crew members. This problem is relevant to the airline industry and the travelling public because pilot fatigue is preventable as a causal factor in aviation accidents, and pilots need an accurate way to measure it. Adoption of a …

Predicting Pilot Misperception Of Runway Excursion Risk Through Machine Learning Algorithms Of Recorded Flight Data, Edwin Vincent Odisho Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The research used predictive models to determine pilot misperception of runway excursion risk associated with unstable approaches. The Federal Aviation Administration defined runway excursion as a veer-off or overrun of the runway surface. The Federal Aviation Administration also defined a stable approach as an aircraft meeting the following criteria: (a) on target approach airspeed, (b) correct attitude, (c) landing configuration, (d) nominal descent angle/rate, and (e) on a straight flight path to the runway touchdown zone. Continuing an unstable approach to landing was defined as Unstable Approach Risk Misperception in this research. A review of the literature revealed that an …