UAS Crewmember/Operator Requirements

In today’s aviation world, pilot jobs requirements are seeing a shift from manual flight to primarily crew resource management. Especially in the UAS industry, pilots are no longer mainly involved or primarily focused on keeping the aircraft in the air via manual controls but focusing on the mission and the tasks at hand to achieve the mission with the crew members collective responsibilities.  CRM skills are one of the most important factors for UAS operators. According to Ruff-Stahl et al. (2016), eliminating pilots entirely from an aircraft mission is highly inefficient due to the loss of CRM skills provided by pilots.

 

When it comes to size and capability of UAS requiring certain operator and training qualifications, the complexity of the UAS design needs to be taken into consideration. The Human Systems Integration (HSI) plays a big role in how the human interacts with system elements effecting performance and safety (Pagan, Astwood, & Phillips, 2015). There are fundamental HSI problems involving training for UAS operations including enlisted operators over winged aviators as operators have significantly less human factor related accidents as well sensory feedback systems and instrumentation designs (Pagan, Astwood, & Phillips, 2015). In response to HSI concerns, the Optimizing Performance of Trainees for UAS Manpower, Interface and Selection (OPTUMIS) was created. A part of OPTUMIS is the KSA classifications for training. KSA classifies training requirements within three tiers, the first being the most important. Within tier one, there is stress tolerance, system comprehension, and technical troubleshooting to name a few of many (Pagan, Astwood, & Phillips, 2015). These classifications alone show the correlation between training and system complexity. 

 

Training requirements to safely operate a UAS in the NAS are more difficult to determine. With the KAS classifications alone, the list is extensive simply in tier one class and there are three tiers to consider. A pilot must show competency in many aspects outside of the actual manual flight of the aircraft. Extensive behavioral science as well as system engineering is required which sets UAS training apart from manned flight training and understanding the NAS is an additional training requirement. So, one can easily say that the training for UAS pilots to operate in the NAS will not be simply accomplished. These operators will have to be well versed in many amplified features of aviation training and NAS knowledge. Identifying training requirements will be a challenge but the demand is there so it will be worth it.  

 


References  

Pagan, J., Astwood, D., & Phillips, C. (2015). Optimizing Performance of Trainees for UAS Manpower, Interface and Selection (OPTUMIS): A Human Systems Integration (HSI) Approach. 18th International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, 554-559.
https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/isap_2015/13 

 

Ruff-Stahl, H. K., Vogel, D., Dmoch, N., Krause, A., Strobl, A., Farsch, D., & Stehr, R. (2016). Measuring CRM Aptitude: Is NOTECHS a Suitable Tool for Pilot Selection?. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 3(3).https://doi.org/10.15394/ijaaa.2016.1128

 

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