Season’s Greetings from ASTG! As the year winds down, we take a moment to reflect on the exciting developments in our community and the aviation industry.
We look forward to continued growth and collaboration in the coming year.
HFES Aerospace Systems Technical Group 2024 Election
The HFES Aerospace Systems Technical Group (ASTG) is holding elections for two key positions: TG Vice-Chair and Program Vice-Chair.
🗳️ How to vote? Members eligible to vote have received an email on Dec 10th sent by info@hfes.org with the link to vote. Please check your inbox. Members are encouraged to vote for their preferred candidates or submit write-in candidates.
📅 When to vote? The election is open for three weeks, and ballots must be submitted by 3:00 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, December 31, 2024.
Technical Group Vice-Chair
Two candidates are running for the position of TG Vice-Chair:
-
Nayara De Oliveira Faria
-
Changxu Wu
Technical Group Program Vice-Chair
Three candidates are running for the position of TG Program Vice-Chair:
-
Nayara De Oliveira Faria
-
Changxu Wu
-
Rodrigo Lopes Rose
Introducing ASTG’s New Logo
We are thrilled to unveil our brand-new logo, a first for ASTG! This logo captures our identity as human factors experts in aviation.
The design, featuring three aircraft forming the shape of a pilot, symbolizes our commitment to enhancing aviation safety and efficiency through human-centered design. The logo reflects the different sectors of aerospace human factors: aviation, space and future air mobility. It also aligns with the branding of our mother society HFES, highlighting our shared values and mission.
The design was done by Philippe DP with help from our valuable team of volunteers. We are proud of this milestone and look forward to continuing our journey with a fresh, unified visual identity.
Webinar on Human Factors Considerations for PBN Departure Procedures
📅 Date: Tuesday, December 17th, 2024
⏰ Time: 1PM Pacific Time / 4PM Eastern Time
Guest Speakers from Volpe National Transportation Systems Center:
In this webinar, the speakers will discuss human factors considerations for Performance Based Navigation (PBN) departure procedures, with a focus on the Multiple Airport Route Separation (MARS) concept. They will explore pilot deviations from planned routes, including intentional and unintentional deviations, and delve into traffic-threat assessment in busy airspaces. The discussion will highlight operational challenges and the factors that influence pilots' decisions to modify their flightpath when facing traffic threats.
Join via Zoom: https://polymtl-ca.zoom.us/j/81410906023?pwd=p3v0W25SiXbWs4Kb21VgTWjn77NGoe.1
💡 All webinars are live streamed and available for free online.
Single-Pilot Operations in Business Aviation
By Philippe Doyon-Poulin
There is a lot of discussion in the HFE community on the possibility of reducing the number of pilots aboard part 25 aircraft. The European Authority (EASA) is reviewing regulations requirements for extended minimum crew operations (eMCO) – to have one pilot during part of the cruise phase while the other crew member could take rest – and aircraft manufacturers are considering future flight deck design that would allow single pilot operations (SPO). A number of research initiatives are investigating the technological feasibility and human factors considerations to make SPO viable. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is vocal about its members' opposition to the reduction of flight crew with the hashtag #SafetyStartsWith2 and wrote a series of white papers documenting their perspective.
Although SPO for part 25 aircraft is still years in the making, we could learn a lot from existing SPO business jets, operating under part 135 for charter or commuter aircraft, such as Pilatus PC-24 and Embraer Phenom 300E. Skybrary recently published a piece reviewing risk management techniques for SPO in business aviation. They structured their text in 5 sections and listed relevant guidance material for each.
Threat management reviews the main threat sources to be mindful of (one self, aircraft, environment and external pressures) and point out that being able to say ‘no’ or ‘unable’ to last-minute changes is also a sign of leadership. The FAA Risk Management Handbook is the resource to consult.
Workload management summarizes the main findings from an experiment with 14 Cessna Mustang pilots flying in workload-intensive legs (conducted by the FAA, NASA and SJSU). It also provides a series of tips when to multitask (ex. set the heading while listening to the rest of the clearance), when not to (ex. during flight mode change), to prepare the cockpit in advance (ex. dial-in the instrument approach frequency of the departure airport before departure, in case of emergency landing) and how to manage attention (ex. have visual cues of a checklist with deferred items close to the trust levers).
Although automation management mostly refers to autopilot and autotrust, there are other automated systems in the aircraft that can malfunction and be subject to pilot error. Pilots should be ready to take over in a quick manner: pressurization systems (manually adjust pressure during descent), fuel systems (monitor and manually balance fuel in flight) and the possibility of data loading error from datalink communication.
Fatigue management points towards the Fatigue Management Guide prepared by the ICAO and IBAC for best practices. It also suggests dispatch to contact pilots over two calls to fight sleep inertia: the first call to alert the pilot to be ready for flight, the second to provide details on the mission.
Aeronautical decision-making is the analytical process recommended to review and select the best option, as opposed to naturalistic decision-making. This is a challenge in SPO as hazardous attitudes could lead to poor decisions.
Are you currently involved in research or projects related to Single-Pilot Operations (SPO)? Do you have valuable lessons learned from working with light jets or large aircraft that you'd like to share?
We would love to hear from you! Reply to this message in the user forum or reach out to contribute your insights to the ASTG community.
In The News
By Srishti Rawal
Aviation
-
EcoPulse Hybrid-Electric Technology Test Success
The EcoPulse demonstrator, a collaboration between DAHER, Safran, and Airbus, has completed 100 flight hours, showcasing advancements in hybrid-electric propulsion, noise reduction, and innovative flight control systems.
-
Mixed-Reality Simulation for eVTOL Pilot Training
Archer and Vertex Solutions have launched a mixed-reality flight training device for the Midnight eVTOL with FAA Level 7 fidelity (the most advanced level below full flight simulator) supporting both commercial and military training. It is nice to see years of research on XR training moving to a commercial solution.
Space
-
ESA's Proba-3 Mission to Study the Sun
On Dec 5th, the European Space Agency ESA’s Proba-3, in partnership with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), launched a rocket containing two independent spacecraft: a coronagraph (340 kg, 750 lb) and an occulter (200 kg, 441 lb). Once separated from the rocket 4th stage, these two spacecraft will use formation flying to create solar eclipses of a duration of about 6h, 50 times a year. The occluder needs to be aligned with the coronagraph with an accuracy of less than 1 mm! This localized total solar eclipse will offer an unique opportunity to study the Sun’s corona at a level unavailable on earth.
-
New Theory on the Origins of Mars' Moons
NASA’s supercomputer simulations propose a new theory on how Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos, were formed from a rogue asteroid, challenging previous hypotheses.
-
Driving on Mars
The Washington Post spent a few days at JPL with 3 rover planners responsible for “driving” the Perseverance rover on Mars. Their mission was to reach the top of Lookout Hill during the Thanksgiving break, but it involved deciding whether or not to increase the number of visual odometry errors (i.e. positioning errors) tolerated by the rover, on what turned out to be slippery terrain. It also includes a nice collection of pictures showing Mission control at JPL.
For fun
------------------------------
Srishti Rawal
------------------------------