Permanent Medical Grounding in Royal Canadian Air Force Pilots (20082017)

BACKGROUND: The aim of this retrospective registry study was to review the medical causes of RCAF pilot permanent grounding during the period 20082017 and to compare our findings to the previous study of 19781987 to determine if disease patterns had changed.METHODS: Material was obtained from the RCAF 1 Canadian Air Division Surgeons' medical registry of military pilots. Anonymized data for permanently grounded pilots were classified by medical diagnosis, age, and training status.RESULTS: During the period 20082017, there were a total of 162 pilots permanently grounded, of which 110 were trained and 52 untrained.DISCUSSION: In comparison to the 1991 study, there has been a decrease in permanent groundings due cardiovascular disease, but an increase due to mental health conditions, musculoskeletal issues, and motion sickness.Haworth D, Gray G, Zoltenko R, Bashirzadeh AJ. Permanent medical grounding in Royal Canadian Air Force pilots (20082017). Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021; 92(11): 913-918.

A Review of Human Factors Research Performed from 2014 to 2017 in Support of the Royal Canadian Air Force Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Project

Remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPASs) are tools for military organizations to help remove humans from dangerous situations, and permit operations in severe and inhospitable environments. To support the procurement of an RPAS fleet under Canada’s Strong, Secure, Engaged 2017 defence policy, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) under the RCAF Joint Unmanned Surveillance and Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS) project (subsequently replaced by the RCAF RPAS project) funded Defence Research and Development Canada – Toronto Research Centre to conduct a preliminary investigation of human factors (HF) issues relating to the performance of the crew in the ground control station (GCS) to control a RPAS. This paper presents a review of the RCAF research program conducted between 2014 and 2017 that discusses HF issues in RPAS operations and how training is associated with the HF attributes of decision making, skills/knowledge, and mission preparation. Also, this paper presents a training needs analysis methodology and analysis that identified essential RPAS crew competencies (expressed as the knowledge, skills, and abilities required by each crew member to perform their respective tasks). Finally, this paper discusses work that investigated experimentation and evaluation capabilities to support RPAS operator training and GCS airworthiness certification.

CHRONIC DISEASE AND TERMINAL DECLINE IN VERY OLD MEN: THE MANITOBA FOLLOW-UP STUDY

The Manitoba Follow-up Study is in its 71st year of continuous operation. Since 1948, 3,983 aircrew recruits to the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War have submitted routine medical examinations and completed questionnaires. On May 1, 2006, 1001 of these men (25%) were alive mean age of 86 years. The effects of 7 chronic diseases (CDs) diagnosed before 2006 were modeled with multinomial logistic regression to predict the pattern of decline of living and dying through an 11 year window to 2017. By 2017, 11% were still alive, 10% died very early in the window, 44% experienced a slow decline of a least three years to death, 17% experienced a step decline to death, and 18% experienced a terminal drop, death within six months of decline in functioning. Only 30% were free of CD in 2006; 36% had 1 CD, and 34% had more than 1 CD. As the number of CDs increased, the probability of remaining alive by 2017 decreased: 18% alive if no CD, 10% if 1 CD, 8% if 2 CDs, and 3% of >2 CDs. The chance of death with a terminal drop decreased: 22% if no CD, 20% if 1 CD, 14% if 2 CD, 11% if >2 CD. Conversely, the percent with a gradual decline to death increased with more CDs. Among old men are already in their 80s, a key determinant of the trajectory to end of life is the number of CDs.

Correlating Helmet System Mass Properties with Pain Levels towards Helicopter Aircrew Neck-trouble Mitigating Solutions

Royal Canadian Air Force aircrew members have reported neck-trouble prevalence rates of 75%. To address this problem, a four-year project was recently completed that proposed, developed, assessed, and provided scientific advice on neck pain solutions. One of the solutions involved a Helmet System Assessment trial where helmet system mass properties and pain levels were collected from thirty-nine helicopter aircrew. These data were used to determine a relationship between head supported mass properties and pain level. The results show that experienced aircrew with chronic neck trouble have learned to manage their pain by reducing the amount of counter weights during night sorties, while novice aircrew wear counterweights that they are issued, which is often more than needed. Thus, a possible mitigating solution is to wear minimal counter weights so to delay the onset of episodic or chronic neck pain.