Human Integration Into the Lifecycle of Aviation Systems

In the European strategy for air transport set out in, “[European Aeronautics: A Vision for 2020]” a target of an 80 per cent reduction in aircraft accidents is proposed as necessary to support the expected growth in traffic with a reduction in the number of accidents. Following the publication of these targets the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) produced a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) which identified that ensuring effective and reliable human performance would be a key contribution to the required accident reduction.

Analysis of accident data has shown that for 70% of aircraft accidents, human error on the flight deck is cited as the primary cause. In a further 15% of accidents human error on the flight deck is cited as a contributory cause. Deficiencies in maintenance are estimated to be involved in 12% of major accidents, and 50% of engine-related flight delays.

It is clear that methods and technologies, which are targeted at reducing, capturing or mitigating human error, would provide a major step toward the required reduction in the accident rate. The HILAS Project hopes - via its four research strands - to achieve the targets out lined in the report mentioned above. See our Public Documents Section for more detailed background on the HILAS Project.

The HILAS Research Strands

Aviation is a complex ‘system of systems’ in which the human is the critical interface between the different sub-systems. If dysfunctional interactions between poorly co-ordinated systems are to be avoided, research and development also requires an integrated ‘system of systems’ approach. HILAS provides the opportunity to develop and demonstrate a seamless approach to human factors integration across system boundaries, particularly focusing on boundaries between maintenance, dispatch and flight operations, and between the operational aspects of both maintenance and flight operations, technology and process design.

Flight Deck Technology Strand

The evaluation of new technologies for flight decks will address new and emerging technologies, such as synthetic vision, head-mounted displays and multi-modal dialogue systems. The Flight Deck Technology Strand will also investigate human factors of these technologies will be evaluated in an integrated simulation rig. This will provide a comprehensive evaluation platform of human factors tools and methods. Flight Deck Technology Participants

Knowledge Integration Strand

The Knowledge Integration Strand will develop a knowledge management system linking all the strands of the project, incorporating the project's tools and methods and the requirements for their effective use. It will facilitate the use of that knowledge by users inside and outside the project, and examine how to transform operational knowledge to stimulate new design ideas. It will evaluate how well the project manages its knowledge in order to create innovation possibilities. Knowledge Integration Participants

Flight Operations Strand

An integrated system for flight operations process improvement and performance management will be developed using cockpit integration technology in the Flight Operations Strand. This will demonstrate the impact of flight operations process redesign on performance improvement and lead to a standardised European model for flight operations performance monitoring. Flight Operations Participants

Maintenance Strand

The monitoring and improvement of maintenance operations will be addressed in the Maintenance Strand by an integrated set of tools and methods for managing human factors across the maintenance lifecycle from design to operations. The pilot implementation of this human factors management system will be evaluated to produce a standardised assessment of safety and quality in maintenance systems and operations. Maintenance Participants

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