Pilots’ Willingness to Operate in Urban Air Mobility Integrated Airspace: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

Interest in advanced air mobility (AAM) and urban air mobility (UAM) operations for on-demand passenger and cargo transport continues to grow. There is ongoing research on market demand and forecast, community acceptance, privacy, and security. There is also ongoing research by NASA, FAA, academia, and industry on airspace integration, regulatory, process, and procedural challenges. Safe integration of UAM and AAM will also require different stakeholder perspectives such as air traffic controllers, manned aircraft pilots, remote pilots, UAM operators, and the community. This research aimed to assess the willingness of manned aircraft pilots to operate in UAM integrated airspace based on airspace complexity and UAM automation level. In addition, a moderated mediation analysis was conducted using trust and perceived risk as mediators and operator type as a moderating variable. The results indicated that automation level influenced pilots’ willingness to operate an aircraft in integrated airspace. A moderating effect of operation type on automation level and willingness to pilot an aircraft was also observed: professional pilots were more amenable to UAM operations with a pilot on-board compared to remotely piloted operations. Results from the study are expected to inform airspace integration challenges, processes, and procedures for UAM integrated operations.

Physiological Alterations due to Acceleration and Gravity: A Brief Review of Recent Studies

Studies on physiological effects due to gravitation and acceleration have become a hot topic of research since the last century. Scientists and engineers have been putting their best efforts to excavate more about the physiological changes that occur in jet aircraft pilots and astronauts. This study focuses on a few prominent and recent observations related to the alterations of physiological functioning due to gravitational and acceleration forces.

Relief Aircraft Dispatch Strategies Based on Different Levels of Information Sharing Systems

In the wake of a disaster, relief activities are expected to start immediately. To determine a better approach in dispatchment and transportation during relief activities, the primary factor is the communication and information sharing between the various parties such as airports, relief shelters and aircraft pilots. However, the effect of the information-sharing systems on the efficiency of transportation is yet to be clarified, and the differences between transport methods under different information-sharing systems are not yet known. Therefore, in this paper, we proposed different dispatch strategies corresponding to different information sharing levels and utilized the agent-based simulation modeling dynamic system to compare the air relief efficiency of different dispatch strategies. The simulation results demonstrate that the efficiency of relief activities increases as the level of information sharing improves, and different dispatch strategies have an impact on the effect of relief activities.

SCIENTIFIC SUBSTANTIATION OF NEW CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING LABOR INTENSITY AMONG CIVIL AVIATIONPILOTS

Introduction. An analysis of labor intensity as a factor in the labor process that can affect flight safety is of great importance in assessing the working conditions of civil aircraft pilots. At the same time, the existing approaches to assessing labor intensity have a number of shortcomings that do not allow an objective quantitative assessment of the load on the central nervous system and sensory organs, do not take into account the many algorithms of the pilot's actions at different stages of the flight, and a number of criteria for sensory loads do not reflect the real levels that the pilots are exposed. The aim of the study is to scientifically substantiate new criteria for assessing the labor intensity of pilots. Research methods. As part of the comprehensive studies, hygienic, questionnaire-survey methods, timing studies and an algorithmic method for analyzing the actions of aircraft crew members were used, the functional state of the cardiovascular and central nervous system, psychophysiological and video-oculomotor studies, an assessment of attention reserves, mathematical and statistical methods were assessed. Results. It has been established that the following indicators can be used as the basis for new criteria for assessing the work intensity of aircraft pilots: the number of take-offs / landings (per flight shift / week), including those performed at night; crossing time zones (per flight shift / week); volume of incoming information (bits per flight shift); time of fixing the gaze on the device (as a percentage of the flight time); frequency of changing the image / values on the screen (times / hour); the total degree of complexity of multifunctional control devices (bit / s). The total degree of labor intensity among pilots corresponds to class 3.3. Conclusion. Further research is needed to establish quantitative criteria for the proposed labor intensity indicators among civil aviation pilots.

Tracking Light Aircraft with Smartphones at Low Altitudes

Most aircraft in the world are tracked by various surveillance radar systems. Currently there is no legal requirement for light aircraft to be fitted with a transponder; however, this does not mean light aircraft should not be tracked. By adding a cheap, live tracking solution for light aircraft, the safety of low-flying aircraft pilots can be greatly increased. The radio operators who coordinate the aircraft can have an improved understanding of the air traffic and in the event of an emergency, the position of the aircraft can be relayed to emergency services. This paper proposes an approach to use a smartphone as an aircraft transponder to improve the radar tracking capabilities of low-flying aircraft. This study presents a practical and effective approach as well as a prototype implementation. The study includes the development of the three main components: (1) A mobile application that transforms a smartphone into an aircraft transponder; exploiting the GPS functionalities, (2) a desktop application that visualizes the aircraft data in real time on a map, and (3) a backend that bridges the mobile and the desktop application. To evaluate the study, flight tests were performed in a real aircraft over the Isle of Wight in the UK.

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL FEATURES OF AIRСRAFT PILOTS DURING VISUAL SEARCH AND DETECTION OF SMALL-SIZE GROUND OBJECTS IN DIFFICULT WEATHER CONDITIONS

Background. Visual search and detection of small-size ground objects in difficult weather conditions is a task that provokes psychophysiological stress. The influence of professional pilot activity on the psychophysiological cost of air reconnaissance remains unclear. Materials and methods. The study on the detection and identification of a ground object during landing approach was carried out in winter, during daylight hours: 42 aircraft pilots (average age 30.0 ± 2.8 years, experience from 7 to 14 years) performed 192 research flights. Studies of the subjective assessment of the range to small-size ground objects (SSGO) depending on different visibility conditions and flight altitude were carried out with the participation of 11 aircraft pilots (average age 31.2 ± 1.4 years, experience from 10 to 14 years). The aircraft pilots performed 33 research flights, during which the indicators of neuro-emotional stress were recorded using on-board recording equipment. Results. The search for SSGO in difficult weather conditions (DWC) is accompanied by the increased neuro-emotional stress of the pilot. The pilot's eye estimate of the range to SSGO in conditions of a limited maximum visibility (2.5–4.0 km) for altitudes of 300–400 m is characterized by overestimating the range by an average of 12 %, while good visibility results in underestimating the range. A flight under the clouds with maintaining the distance between the lower edge of the cloud and a flight height of about 50 meters is more favorable for the search for SSGO. With a decrease in this distance to 25 m or less, there is an increase in the physiological cost of such activity (increase in heart rate by 11.6 %; respiration rate by 13.7 %). Conclusion. The psychophysiological features of a pilot that affect the detection and identification of SSGO in DWC mostly depend on the maximum visibility. The coefficients obtained make it possible to adequately estimate the detection and identification range during air reconnaissance in DWC. Pilot’s workload, as well as the level of his/her neuro-emotional stress are determined by the maximum visibility and the distance between the lower edge of the cloud and the specified flight altitude.

Testing the Compliance Behavior Model in General Aviation

Australian general aviation accident data show pilots who conduct operations into adverse weather, when against the rules, remain as a significant cause of fatal accidents. This paper presents the background, methodology, and results of a theory of planned behavior (TPB) elicitation study, which extracted key psychological beliefs of aircraft pilots in such circumstances. The present study established a psychometric survey instrument with items that are valid and reliable, to then further explore the TPB psychological constructs concerning the intentions of pilots when presented with adverse weather. Given the principled deliberations associated with rule-related behavior, the project explores an extension of the TPB by investigating the addition of two psychological constructs – personal norms and anticipated affect and their power to provide a discrete contribution and improved explanation of variance.