Identifying Human Factor Causes of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Safety Occurrences in Australia
Remotely piloted aircraft are a fast-emerging sector of the aviation industry. Although technical failures have been the largest cause of accident occurrences for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPASs), if they are to follow the path of conventionally crewed aviation, Human Factors (HFs) will inc...
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Aerospace |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/12/3/206 |
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| author | John Murray Steven Richardson Keith Joiner Graham Wild |
| author_facet | John Murray Steven Richardson Keith Joiner Graham Wild |
| author_sort | John Murray |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Remotely piloted aircraft are a fast-emerging sector of the aviation industry. Although technical failures have been the largest cause of accident occurrences for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPASs), if they are to follow the path of conventionally crewed aviation, Human Factors (HFs) will increasingly contribute to accidents as the technology of RPASs improves. Examining an RPAS accident database from 2008–2019 for HF-caused accidents and coding to the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) taxonomy, an exploration of RPAS HFs is carried out and the predominant HF issues for RPAS pilots identified. The majority of HF accidents were coded to the Unsafe Acts level of the HFCAS. Skill errors, depth perception and environmental issues were the largest contributors to HF RPAS safety occurrences. A comparison with other sectors of aviation is also made where perception issues were found to be a greater contributor to occurrences for RPAS pilots than for other sectors of aviation. Developing appropriate training programs to develop skilled RPAS operators with good depth perception can contribute to a reduction in RPAS accident rates. The importance of reporting RPAS incidents is also discussed. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d2ea2bb005ee496db01879028091279d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2226-4310 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aerospace |
| spelling | doaj-art-d2ea2bb005ee496db01879028091279d2025-08-20T02:11:00ZengMDPI AGAerospace2226-43102025-02-0112320610.3390/aerospace12030206Identifying Human Factor Causes of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Safety Occurrences in AustraliaJohn Murray0Steven Richardson1Keith Joiner2Graham Wild3School of Engineering and Information Technology, UNSW, Canberra, ACT 2600, AustraliaSchool of Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, AustraliaCapability Systems Centre, UNSW, Canberra, ACT 2612, AustraliaSchool of Science, UNSW, Canberra, ACT 2600, AustraliaRemotely piloted aircraft are a fast-emerging sector of the aviation industry. Although technical failures have been the largest cause of accident occurrences for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPASs), if they are to follow the path of conventionally crewed aviation, Human Factors (HFs) will increasingly contribute to accidents as the technology of RPASs improves. Examining an RPAS accident database from 2008–2019 for HF-caused accidents and coding to the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) taxonomy, an exploration of RPAS HFs is carried out and the predominant HF issues for RPAS pilots identified. The majority of HF accidents were coded to the Unsafe Acts level of the HFCAS. Skill errors, depth perception and environmental issues were the largest contributors to HF RPAS safety occurrences. A comparison with other sectors of aviation is also made where perception issues were found to be a greater contributor to occurrences for RPAS pilots than for other sectors of aviation. Developing appropriate training programs to develop skilled RPAS operators with good depth perception can contribute to a reduction in RPAS accident rates. The importance of reporting RPAS incidents is also discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/12/3/206remotely piloted aircraft systemshuman factorshuman factor analysis and classification systemdepth perception |
| spellingShingle | John Murray Steven Richardson Keith Joiner Graham Wild Identifying Human Factor Causes of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Safety Occurrences in Australia Aerospace remotely piloted aircraft systems human factors human factor analysis and classification system depth perception |
| title | Identifying Human Factor Causes of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Safety Occurrences in Australia |
| title_full | Identifying Human Factor Causes of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Safety Occurrences in Australia |
| title_fullStr | Identifying Human Factor Causes of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Safety Occurrences in Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identifying Human Factor Causes of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Safety Occurrences in Australia |
| title_short | Identifying Human Factor Causes of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Safety Occurrences in Australia |
| title_sort | identifying human factor causes of remotely piloted aircraft system safety occurrences in australia |
| topic | remotely piloted aircraft systems human factors human factor analysis and classification system depth perception |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/12/3/206 |
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