A Concept of Operations for Single Pilot Incapacitation

Abstract

A major challenge for the implementation of Single Pilot Operations (SPO) in commercial aviation is how to deal with the potential risk of in-flight pilot incapacitation. In this presentation we present a concept of operations aiming at supporting flight and landing of a single-piloted aircraft in case the onboard single pilot becomes incapacitated. In nominal conditions, a ground station operator (GSO) monitors and supports the onboard single pilot as needed. In our concept, three different ground stations are involved: departure, cruise, and approach ground station. During departure and approach, one GSO would assist one single pilot at a time, whereas in cruise (when workload is relatively low) the GSO would support several single pilots simultaneously. Once incapacitation is detected and confirmed, the GSO takes over control of the aircraft and becomes pilot-in-command. In case pilot incapacitation occurs during cruise, the cruise GSO takes over control of the aircraft for a short period of time, and transfers the control of the aircraft to a stand-by GSO who would be responsible for landing the concerned aircraft safely as soon as possible.