Single Pilot Concept of Operations: Hazard Identification and Mitigation Measures

Objective: This work identifies the human factors hazards associated
with Single Pilot Operations (SiPO) in small jets currently certified for
single-pilot operations and assesses their transferability to future airliner
single-pilot concept.
Background: SiPO of commercial airliners is imminent. Hazard identification
of SiPO based upon an extant similar system could contribute
to proving SiPO equally safe to multicrew operations (MCO).
Method: The three-part study consisted of archival analysis of 47
accidents and 237 incident involving small single-pilot jets, subject
matter expert (SME) interviews and an opinion survey of one hundred
airline pilots. The multi-method approach provided holistic, complementary
data, enabling findings to be triangulated.
Results: Results identified the human factors hazards were mainly
associated with the absence of a second crew member, specifically
for: monitoring, workload management; situational awareness and
verifying decision-making. SiPO acceptance was generally low
amongst the airline pilot community. SJ pilots and airliner pilots
favored a system configuration based around high levels of automation/
autonomy rather than the displacement of the second pilot to the
ground with on-demand availability (a distributed air/ground sociotechnical
system).
Conclusion: In addition to the development of enabling technologies
fundamental for de-crewing the need for further research into the
design and development of single-pilot resource management (SRM)
courses and definition of minimum flight experience for SiPO was
recommended.