Project description
Reducing the probability of pilot errors
Aviation is one of the safest modes of transportation despite the fact it is a safety critical industry. Since pilot error is a major cause of plane crashes, it is important to relay accurate information fast. The EU-funded REPS project will validate a Pilot State Monitoring system in the cockpit that is able to provide crucial feedback on the pilot’s state to yield faster decision-making. The aim is to reduce the probability of pilot errors and enhance fatigue risk management. For this validation campaign the PSM will be installed in real aircraft to test their behaviour on daily operational flights. By collecting operational data and experience during nominal operations for both short and long-haul flights, the project will support the development of an associated concept of operations.
Objective
Airline pilots today consider a variety of information sources to ensure a comprehensive flight preparation and a safe flight operation. In times of an increasingly complex working environment, the workload for pilots increases permanently. The likelihood of miscalculations as a consequence of poorly prepared information is increasing there as well. This project aims to validate Pilot State Monitoring system in the cockpit which is able to provide crucial feedback of the pilot state to yield faster decision making, reduce the probability of pilot errors and enhance the fatigue risk management. The project will collect operational data and experience during nominal operations for both short and long-haul flights. It will support the development of associate concept of operations. This concept will address envisioned use cases, identify benefits, operational constraints, risks and mitigation strategies and evaluate possible future use of the system from end users such as airlines, aircraft operators and training centres.
The REPS project team consists of three partners with acknowledged expertise in the aviation domain. Air Traffic Management processes and technologies with special focus on support systems for cockpit-crews are core competencies of the Institute of Flight Guidance at TU Braunschweig. TU Braunschweig will lead the consortium. The second partner, Deep Blue SRL, has a good and acknowledged track record in research on human factors as well as in validation and evaluation activities. The third partner is a start-up called CACTUSpartners GmbH. CACTUS has been founded in 2019 by two active airline pilots with consulting background and two scientists to combine operational airline expertise with scientific knowledge in all aviation domains. The partners will sub-contract Etihad Airways as airline to install and test the pilot state monitoring devices.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
38106 Braunschweig
Germany