UAS Mishaps and Accidents

     This week's discussion topics are about UAS mishaps and accidents, and how they relate to crew member selection, training, and certification. In a study done by Williams et al. (2014), they looked at the US Navy, Air Force, and other DoD related people/organizations, and interviewed members of each organization to find out what they thought were the most important Skills and Other Characteristics (SAOC) for selecting a UAS pilot. Many of these SAOCs were covered in tests and exams given to prospective pilots and Figure 1 and Figure 2 show which tests contained which SAOCs, as well as how these SAOCs were rated by the interviewed members. I have only included the very highest rated SAOCs and the very lowest rated SAOCs to save space. Please check out the reference to see the full list.



Figure 1: Top rated SAOCs

Figure 2: Lowest rated SAOCs

I do not have any reason or data to counter what these subject matter experts have put forth, so I would say that I believe the same traits they believe are important in selecting for UAS pilots. 

    UAS size and capability affect the crew member selection in the sense that one crew member takes upon less of a percentage of making the UAS function. For example, a RPIC for a small hobby quadcopter is 100% responsible for making the UAS function. However, for larger and more capable UAS, that responsibility is spread out amongst multiple members. Therefore, each member is now in a more specialized role, and each specialized role should put emphasis on one/a certain group SAOCs more than another role. For example, the pilot responsible for flying may need more Spatial Orientation than the payload operator.

    I believe there needs to be more training for UAS operators if they want to safely operate in the NAS. I don't have a concrete number of hours in mind, but certainly enough to understand how the NAS operates, and how to communicate as well as interpret information related to TCAS-II or other flight systems. This training would be on top of training for the specific UAS they would be piloting.



References:

Williams, H., Carretta, T., Kirkendall, C., & Barron, L. (2014). SELECTION OF UAS PERSONNEL (SUPER) PHASE I REPORT: IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL SKILLS, ABILITIES, AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEST BATTERY DEVELOPMENT NAMRU-D REPORT NUMBER 15-16 Enclosure (2) 1/2. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA613545.pdf

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