Risk Management and Aeronautical Decision Making

Feature Image. Automated and Analytical Decision Making. Adapted from “Remote Pilot – Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Study Guide,” by FAA, 2016, faa. Copyright 2016 by FAA.

Essential elements of Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) are composed of multiple aspects of the pilot’s mind, physical state, the state of the equipment, the environment in which the pilot plans to fly, and the intention of the flight itself. The pilot must weigh the factors of why they are flying to the risk involved with the flight itself. The process is a systematic approach to the mental process used by the operators to determine the best course of action (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016)

The Risk Management issues that stood out to me was the hazardous attitudes for unmanned aircraft operators (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016). I knew that manned pilots had these as a possible concern to ensure their pilots maintain safe attitudes when they are operating their aircraft, however, I did not consider the attitudes for unmanned aircraft. I believe there is a potential for unmanned pilots to demonstrate these attitudes more often than manned pilots due to the reduced danger to the pilot.

Some unique human factors challenges faced by commercial Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operators is the requirement to maintain a continuous visual line of sight of the aircraft during operations (Federal Aviation Administration, 2020). Per the FAA, UAS operators under 14 CFR Part 107 are required to maintain a continuous visual line of sight to perform commercial flight operations. I believe this limitation may cause an operator to continuously look down at their payload or control station while also trying to maintain a visual line of sight of the aircraft. The operator must also either have a visual observer or the operator will also need to continue to look around for other air traffic that may be a concern during the flight.

References

Federal Aviation Administration. (2016). Remote Pilot – Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Study Guide. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/media/remote_pilot_study_guide.pdf

Federal Aviation Administration. (2020). Part 107 – Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems. U.S. Government Publishing Office. Retrieved from https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?mc=true&node=pt14.2.107&rgn=div5#se14.2.107_163