Aviation Safety and Security Commons^™

Uas Maintenance: A Critical Component In Maintaining Airworthiness, Bettina M. Mrusek Ph.D., Patti J. Clark Ph.D., Kristy W. Kiernan Ph.D.

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Over the last several decades, the notion of traditional aircraft design has significantly changed. While there are many modern aircraft that resemble earlier models, their components, systems, and overall architecture have evolved, including the introduction of small unmanned aircraft systems. Despite the growing consumer attraction to own and operate these aircraft, the subsequent impact on safety is an area of intense concern. The requirement of an established maintenance program for manned aircraft is rooted in ensuring that all aircraft are deemed safe for flight. Preventive maintenance schedules are based on component reliability data, which minimizes unnecessary maintenance while preventing maintenance-related …

Uas Pilots Code: Tools To Advance Uas Safety & Professionalism, Ryan J. Wallace Ed.D., John M. Robbins Ph.D.

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

As unmanned aircraft operations become more ubiquitous in the National Airspace System, one of the key remaining challenges is instilling the precepts of safety culture, aviation professionalism, airmanship, and effective aeronautical decision-making among these non-traditional aviators. To address these challenges, researchers codified best practices and operational recommendations from across the UAS industry, collectively publishing them in a compendium titled the UAS Pilots Code (UASPC). Guidance for the UASPC was informed by material assembled from leading governmental and industry organizations including: FAA, AEA, AMA, AOPA, ASTM, AUVSI, CANSO, EAA, EASA, EUROCAE, ICAO, ISO, JARUS, NBAA, RTCA, SAE, UVS, and others. Extensive …

Characteristics Of Helicopter Accidents Involving Male And Female Pilots, Scott S. Burgess, Robert O. Walton, P. Michael Politano

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Studies examining aviation accidents have not found differences in accident rates by gender, though there may be gender differences in the types of accident. Baker, Lamb, Grabowski, and Rebok (2001) examined fixed-wing aviation accident rates of male and female private pilots and found that males were more likely to have accidents related to inattention or poor planning while female pilots were more likely to have accidents due to mishandling the aircraft. This research analyzed the National Transportation Safety Board’s aviation accident database system to examine the severity of injury and aircraft damage in rotary-wing (helicopter) accidents by gender. The data …

Uas Maintenance: A Critical Component In Maintaining Airworthiness, Bettina M. Mrusek, Kristy W. Kiernan, Patti J. Clark

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Over the last several decades, the notion of traditional aircraft design has significantly changed. While there are many modern aircraft that resemble earlier models, their components, systems, and overall architecture have evolved, including the introduction of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS). Despite the growing consumer attraction to own and operate these aircraft, the subsequent impact on safety is an area of intense concern. The requirement of an established maintenance program for manned aircraft is rooted in ensuring that all aircraft are deemed safe for flight. Preventive maintenance schedules are based on component reliability data, which minimizes unnecessary maintenance while preventing …

Called To Safety? Individual And Combined Effects Of Safety Climate And Occupational Callings On Aviator Safety Performance, Michele W. Gazica, Erin E. Bowen, Michael A. Mccarson, Kristen A-M. Chadwell

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

This study examined the individual and combined effects of two potential antecedents to aviation-related safety performance: safety climate and occupational callings. Research exploring the importance of occupational callings to the safety domain is in its nascent stages. The extent that someone is living a calling may explain variance in actual safety performance above that which can be explained by safety climate alone. Survey data from aviators in a flight training program were analyzed to evaluate the ability of occupational calling assessments to inform the potential for safety mishaps within the aviation industry. Results indicate that both safety climate and occupational …

Uas Pilots Code – Annotated Version 1.0, Michael S. Baum, Kristine Kiernan, Donald W. Steinman, Ryan J. Wallace Ed.D.

Publications

The UAS PILOTS CODE (UASPC) offers recommendations to advance flight safety, ground safety, airmanship, and professionalism.6 It presents a vision of excellence for UAS pilots and operators, and includes general guidance for all types of UAS. The UASPC offers broad guidance—a set of values—to help a pilot interpret and apply standards and regulations, and to confront real world challenges to avoid incidents and accidents. It is designed to help UAS pilots develop standard operating procedures (SOPs), effective risk management,7 safety management systems (SMS), and to encourage UAS pilots to consider themselves aviators and participants in the broader aviation community.

An Alternative Method Of Identification Of A Failed Engine In Twin-Engine Turboprop Aircraft, Andrey Babin, Andrew R. Dattel Ph.D.

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Previous incidents and accidents involving twin-engine aircraft, including the recent TransAsia Flight 235 crash, have revealed that pilots are prone to mistakes in identifying the engine that fails, and subsequently, shutting down the wrong engine, i.e. perfectly working engine. Most accidents of this type happen on takeoff when pilot workload is at its highest level. It may be that the current training procedure for engine failures on takeoff, called identify-verify-feather (IVF), is counterintuitive and may lead to greater confusion. IVF is based on haptic sensory channel, which is known to be less effective than visual channel. This study proposes a …

Opening Autonomous Airspace–A Prologue, Samuel M. Vance

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and in particular small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), has significant operational implications for the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system of the future. Integrating unmanned aircraft safely presents long-standing challenges, especially during the lengthy transition period when unmanned vehicles will be mixed with piloted vehicles. Integration of dissimilar systems is not an easy, straight-forward task and in this case is complicated by the difficulty to truly know what is present in the airspace. Additionally, there are significant technology, security and liability issues that will need resolution to ensure property and life are protected and …

Integration Of Military Unmanned Aerial Systems (Uas) Into The Us National Airspace System: The Relationship Between Uas Accidents And Safety Concerns, Omar J. Hamilton, Timm J. Bliss, Chad Depperschmidt

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The purpose of this study was to discover if a relationship existed between the most common safety concerns and the most common UAS accidents with regards to the integration of military unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). This study examined the most common causes of UAS accidents over a five-year period, the level of safety concerns and common concerns from UAS military pilots and sensor operators. The quantitative data was derived from the Air Force, Navy and Army Safety Offices, while the qualitative data was derived from an online questionnaire and follow-up interviews of US Air …

Finding The Balance Between Price And Protection: Establishing A Surface-To-Air Fire Risk-Reduction Training Policy For Air-Carrier Pilots, Earl W. Burress Jr.

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Currently, U.S. air carriers do not provide equipment or training necessary to mitigate the risk posed by surface-to-air fire (SAFIRE) threats. These threats consist of self-guided weapons (infrared shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles), manually-aimed threats (small arms, recoilless grenade launchers, rockets, and light anti-aircraft artillery), and hand-held lasers. Technological solutions to counter infrared shoulder-fired missiles have been explored, but were rejected due to prohibitive equipment and maintenance costs. A lower cost option, providing air-carrier pilots with SAFIRE risk-reduction training, has not been formally addressed by the air-carrier industry or the U.S. federal government. This effort will use a business concept, the Cost-Benefit …

Safety Assurance Of Non-Deterministic Flight Controllers In Aircraft Applications, Alfonso Noriega

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Loss of control is a serious problem in aviation that primarily affects General Aviation. Technological advancements can help mitigate the problem, but the FAA certification process makes certain solutions economically unfeasible. This investigation presents the design of a generic adaptive autopilot that could potentially lead to a single certification for use in several makes and models of aircraft. The autopilot consists of a conventional controller connected in series with a robust direct adaptive model reference controller. In this architecture, the conventional controller is tuned once to provide outer-loop guidance and navigation to a reference model. The adaptive controller makes unknown …

Exploring Civil Drone Accidents And Incidents To Help Prevent Potential Air Disasters, Graham Wild, John Murray, Glenn Baxter

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

A recent alleged “drone” collision with a British Airways Airbus A320 at Heathrow Airport highlighted the need to understand civil Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) accidents and incidents (events). This understanding will facilitate improvements in safety by ensuring efforts are focused to reduce the greatest risks. One hundred and fifty two RPAS events were analyzed. The data was collected from a 10-year period (2006 to 2015). Results show that, in contrast to commercial air transportation (CAT), RPAS events have a significantly different distribution when categorized by occurrence type, phase of flight, and safety issue. Specifically, it was found that RPAS …

A Model Of Human Harm From A Falling Unmanned Aircraft: Implications For Uas Regulation, Andrew V. Shelley

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This paper quantifies the human harm, in the form of fatalities and skull fractures, which could occur as a result of an unmanned aircraft falling from a height. The analysis is used to establish the maximum height at which an unmanned aircraft can be flown over people to achieve a level of safety consistent with the rate of ground fatalities from General Aviation. The maximum height is dependent on the aircraft mass and the population density of people on the ground below.

The results are used to inform a critical evaluation of recent recommendations from the FAA-chartered “Unmanned Aircraft Systems …

Peer Reviewed Safety Management System (Sms): Collaboration For Continuous Improvement (Literature Review), Michael F. Canders Ph.D. Cfii

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Safe operations are essential for organizational success, perhaps no more so than in aviation. A culture of safety can be a leading contributor to an aviation organization’s success but developing such a culture and maintaining it can be very challenging. Collegiate aviation programs provide an exceptional opportunity to teach essential safety culture components to new aviators. A Safety Management System (SMS) is an effective framework to present and reinforce key safety principles and can be effectively tailored for the collegiate aviation flight training environment. Some aviation colleges may have developed a safety program or SMS but sharing and benchmarking the …

Pilot Perceptions On Impact Of Crew Rest Regulations On Safety And Fatigue, Lukas Rudari, Mary E. Johnson, Robert C. Geske, Lauren A. Sperlak

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The risk of fatigue on pilot performance and safety is well recognized in aviation. In response to increased safety concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration addressed fatigue risk for passenger airline pilots in Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 117, which included accommodations to address fatigue related risk-factors such as circadian rhythm and the phenomenon commonly described as jet-lag. The rule became effective in January 2014. A survey was conducted in March and April of 2014 to better understand pilot perceptions of the new Part 117 rule. This study analyzed survey responses from 92 self-identified pilots to determine the effect …

National Culture: Understanding The Impact Of Cross-Culture On Airline Pilots' Safety Performance In The Middle-East And North Africa (Mena) Region, Shareef Abdulla Kaddas Al-Romaithi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The continuous expansion of Middle Eastern airlines has created a pilot shortage. Since the local pilot population in the Middle East is relatively small, airlines have been relying on foreign pilots to satisfy their operational requirements. Consequently, pilots with diverse cultural perspectives have been operating together. In order to manage this cultural diversity and ensure safe operations, airlines have been applying a number of training and operational strategies such as Crew Resource Management (CRM) with emphasis on adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). However, CRM was designed and implemented by North Americans as a solution for human factor intricacies among …

Keeping The Skies Safe, Massood Towhidnejad, Andrew J. Kornecki

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - Daytona Beach

Professors Massood Towhidnejad and Andrew Kornecki shine a light on how their lab is helping government and the aviation industry to enhance the safety and security of software-intensive systems.

The Analysis Of Flight Operational Quality Assurance (Foqa) Data: Exploration Of A Proposed List Of Improved Safety Parameters, Giorge Marlon Lopes Tsuruta

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Several FOQA parameters that could enhance air carrier safety have not been recorded and/or analyzed. Airlines have traditionally chosen a limited number of parameters for analysis (thousands have been available for recording). No study in the U.S. had addressed FOQA parameters, leading to an exploratory mixed methods study. A conference call comprising FOQA industry experts was planned and completed to (a increase researcher knowledge and (b) discuss a list of improved safety FOQA parameters. A questionnaire, derived from the suggested list, was electronically sent to 40 FOQA professionals. The respondents represented 75% of the airlines with an FAA-approved FOQA program. …

Trends. Problems In Cultural Transplants: From Aviation To Medicine, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the issues with transferring aviation security to medical cultures.

Safety Orientation For Non-Flying Partners Of Pilots, Barbara J. Wall

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

I became interested in the Women in Aviation organization while searching for scholarships during 1999. This professional organization, not just for women, is instrumental in providing hundreds of thousands of dollars for women to expand their flight certificates and education. I began gathering information for starting a local chapter when another student was not able to continue her pursuit of this project.

Security, Safety, And The Law: The Alpine Cable Accident, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes how legal Issues pertaining to fatal aviation accidents with and without significant politico-military implications can contribute to or detract from security and safety phenomena leading to yet other fatal accidents.

Language And Aviation Safety: Sovereignty Versus Sanctity Of Life, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies political factors that impede adequate language training for flight crews. These factors also are impediments to aviation safety.

The Future Interface Of Political And Industrial/Organizational Psychologies: The Case Of Air Traffic Controllers, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article presents a brief overview of future psychological challenges bearing on the improving the performance of air traffic controllers. The most significant challenges appear to be philosophical, political, social, and cultural.

The 'Can Do' Attitude, Tim Brady

Publications

Having the Can Do Attitude is essential to be efficient. If one is efficient, then one is thinking of safety, which is the goal of the U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Command.

Holidays From Danger, Tim Brady

Publications

A reminder to be safe during holidays to prevent fires, avoid personal injury, and stay off the roads after drinking.