Risk Management and ADM

Aeronautical decision-making (ADM) is the systematic approach to problem solving consistently given a defined set of circumstances and with all information that is provided to the pilot at the time. In other words, ADM allows pilots to transition through the decision-making process in a consistent way in order to determine the best course of action. Having good common sense is a very general way of saying someone has good ADM skills, but it really goes much further. In order to have good decision-making skills, one must do a fair amount of self-reflecting. This self-reflection includes identifying personal attitudes or behaviors that could be potentially hazardous to flight as well as recognizing one’s own stress level and how to cope. Risk assessment skills also can play a big role in ADM by the pilot identifying safety-related hazards and how to mitigate said hazards which has an entire process of analysis on its own in addition to the full ADM process.  

 

The most interesting ADM and risk management issue in Part 107 certified UAS operators is the stress and pressure to fly. I feel that this is unique to UAS as in manned aircraft, pressure to fly has been limited because there is plenty of research that supports the go, no-go decision making for manned flight. However, UAS is an entirely new entrepreneurial environment that the pressure to make the flight and gather the data is exponentially higher. So, for UAS pilots, they must go through the proper ADM and risk management processes in order to make the decision to fly and then they have to potentially reject a mission that another pilot may flight without hesitation. The knowledge of knowing another pilot may take the mission adds to the stress and pressure to fly. In addition, I believe there is a level of client malaise to the hazards of UAS missions that there could be push back for no-go flights that also increases pressures. A UAS business may suffer for making appropriate ADM and risk management decisions. This is not regularly experienced by manned aircraft pilots. 

 

Many human factors that are present with manned aircraft pilots are experienced with UAS pilots however they vary in many different ways. Situational awareness with UAS covers all the standard preflight, flight, and postflight awareness but there are also additional situations such as flying over humans, privacy protection, as well as local and state laws pertaining to UAS operations. These additional items add a great deal of stress and potential distractions for a UAS pilot that result in an incident or accident. The presence of authority personnel in response to an issue with situational awareness, whether local law enforcement or FAA inspectors, may cause high levels of stress and distractions may occur during flight. Situational awareness for UAS pilots is essential when proceeding through ADM and risk management decisions to make sure all bases are covered.