The Synergy between Future Aviation & Human Factors

This article is a summary of the part of white paper “The Human Dimension in Tomorrow’s Aviation System” by the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors (CIEHF). The article will cover four aspects of the paper; urban air mobility, intelligence interfaces, future workforce / flight crew and future governance.

Intelligent Interfaces

In the future, computers and/or AI will replace jobs that are currently carried out by humans. However, more humans will work in skilled jobs that have an intelligent assistant (IA) to support them. This is known as human-machine teaming, a great example of Human Factors. The IA should be able to reason and explain data from complex situations that a human cannot. The pilot should be able to understand recommendations from a computer and not have to make some of their own calculations to receive instructions. This would be a poor design and almost makes the system more inefficient than if it was not in place. The IA does not try to copy the pilot’s thought process, but instead uses its own algorithm to understand the data it is analysing. The limitations of such an IA system must be considered so based on the intelligence and skill of the pilot, the human will still the make strategic decisions, rather than what the IA is telling the pilot to do.

Urban air mobility

By having an IA, this allows the possibility of single pilot operation. This will be beneficial as the paper discusses that there will be a lack of pilots based on aviation growth models. Rather than having a pilot and a co-pilot, there will be a pilot and IA, allowing two planes to be flown at the same time for every current pilot/co-pilot team. This will lead to a large redistribution of personnel across the aviation industry. In terms of safety, a single pilot operation needs to be as good as current safety levels. A single pilot aircraft will also have to fully (and safely) integrate into the rest of air traffic, such as delivery drones, ski taxis and suborbital hypersonic travel, which is a complex and highly co-ordinated task.

Future flight crew/workforce

In addition to this, decreasing the number of pilots needed per plane, will reduce a future shortage of pilots and prevent a decrease in recruiting standards. However, from a Human Factor’s perspective, it must be considered whether the cockpit and training will be redesigned for a tabula rasa or an experienced pilot with thousands of hours under his or her belt. The training should consider that future pilots will have grown up in a technology advanced world and interacting with this technology on almost a daily basis. New technology such as VR and eye tracking devices can be used by both instructors and budding pilots to make the training schedule more efficient, realistic and convenient. IA will also be encouraged incorporated in new training regimes.

Future governance

The aviation industry uses tightly coupled, complex systems with human and machine interaction, leaving the possibility for significant risk. Since most aviation accidents are caused by human error, Human Factors must therefore be considered to prevent this from happening. A system safety assessment (SSA) already comes in the form of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). This calculates what can go wrong, the likelihood, the consequences and how it can be discovered in the first place. However, the safety analysis of a given system, could be improved if complemented by a Human Hazard Assessment (HHA), a systematic approach to limit the risk of human error. The combination of a SSA and a HHA is known as a Total Systems Approach (TSA). A TSA incorporates Human Factors elements, which helps to address all system elements and their interactions throughout a full life cycle.

Published by Adam J Rainey