Safety and human factors implications of RPAS introduction in controlled airspace: a case study

Abstract

Nowadays, Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) represent the new frontier of aerial vehicles. The Air Traffic Management (ATM) system must ensure safety performances and smoothness of traffic flows, where RPAS shall be accommodated as new entrant alongside other existing airspace users, maintaining adequate levels of cooperation in a socio-technical human-machine system. The introduction of RPAS increases the complexity of this system and needs to be properly evaluated from a safety and Human Factors (HF) point of view. This paper discusses the approach and presents the results of the safety and HF evaluations for RPAS integration conducted within the European research project INVIRCAT through Real Time Simulation (RTS) campaigns performed in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.