UAS Mishaps and Accidents: Human Error in Unmanned Craft

 Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) are often thought of in the public as soulless machines, free of human interference. However, the reality is quite different. Just because there is no pilot physically in the cockpit, doesn't mean that human error doesn't play a factor in UAS flight. The fact is, UASs crash a lot - a lot - and when they do, the pilot is often to blame. 

Hazards and Risks in Aviation Operations 

UASs and crewed craft share the same hazards and risks when it comes to flight. Terrain, weather, payload, performance capabilities of the craft, experience levels of the pilot and crew, and countless other variables come into play in safe flight. The difference is, manned craft pilots and crew have a long history of pre-flight checklists, thorough maintenance, and countless other checks and balances designed to remove those variables and minimize risk as much as possible. Most UAS pilots (outside of the military) do not. It is this lack of thoroughness, especially on the part of recreational UAS pilots, that leads to numerous UAS accidents. 

BVLOS Operations - Worth the Risk? 

BVLOS stands for "beyond visual line of sight". It's a fancy way of saying "the drone is flying farther than the pilot can see with the naked eye". Military drone pilots have done this for decades, but now civilians are starting to get in on the action. 

BVLOS is risky. When you fly BVLOS, you lose a huge chunk of your spatial and situational awareness. You can no longer see the drone and everything around it; instead, you must rely on a video feed from the drone to understand what is happening. 

This can be incredibly disorienting for first-time BVLOS pilots. Being able to see only a small chunk of the area in front of the drone means you have to fly slower and be much more aware of what the info is telling you. You're also forced to rely much more on the drone's fail safes. Those fail safes are collision avoidance and loss link return. 

A drone equipped with collision avoidance can sense obstacles in its path - much like a modern car - and slow down, stop, or change direction if necessary. This is the safety net drone pilots need if they are to fly BVLOS safely. 

Loss link returns the drone to its origin point if it loses contact with its ground control station (GCS). Without this capability, an un-linked drone becomes a flying obstacle and collision hazard until its battery runs out and it comes crashing down to earth. 

Human Factors and UAS Mishap Rates

Human factors have been a large contributing factor to UAS accidents. In fact, a close study of UAS accident reports shows that human factors are the main cause of UAS accidents and mishaps. These reports are full of tales of pilots flying their drones into occupied airspace, or flying them into stationary obstacles, or flying them directly into the ocean. It's shocking in a way because most of these accidents are preventable, and yet they still happen. 

Personally, I think these accidents happen because civilian drone pilots do not think of themselves as "real" pilots in the way that military drone pilots do. The prevailing attitude seems to be that they think they're flying an upscaled remote controlled car instead of a flying vehicle that has the potential to become a lethal missile. That needs to change, and quickly. As more and more drones enter the airspace, their pilots will have to take their jobs a lot more seriously in order to maintain safe operation with these craft. 

Automation in the Cockpit: How Much is Too Much?

 There are several different levels of automation in UAS (unmanned aerial system) flight. The most common way to break them down is as follows: 

Level 0: Human operated. Pilot controls everything. 

Level 1: Human directed. Pilot gives orders, UAS follows. 

Level 2: Human delegated. Pilot gives general inputs; UAS handles the smaller tasks required by those inputs. 

Level 3: Human supervised. UAS makes most of the decisions. Pilot watches to make sure nothing goes wrong. 

Level 4: Full automation. The science fiction ideal. The UAS does everything with no human supervision necessary. 

Manned aircraft go through the same levels. Modern airliners are far more automated than most people realize. Pilots in interviews often lament that they barely touch the aircraft when they fly. Modern airliners spend a lot of time at level 3, where the airplane does most of the work and the pilots make sure nothing goes wrong. 

There are definitely different considerations between crewed and UAS flights because the pilot is not in the cockpit of a UAS. There's less situational awareness and a greater need for human engagement. It's a bit ironic that unmanned systems are looked at as the future of automation when they require more hands-on engagement than their crewed counterparts. 

However, all this automation is less than ideal. Manual flying is a perishable skill, and modern pilots don't get enough practice with it. A modern pilot is far more of a software manager than he or she is the swashbuckling air captain of yesteryear. This isn't a problem most of the time, but can become a huge issue when the plane hits an emergency that automation can't handle. 

In an emergency (like the landing of flight 1549 into the Hudson River), a pilot has precious little time to make decisions and must rely on skill and experience to handle the emergency. Split-second reactions and decisions are needed. Captain Sully was able to successfully land the plane because he had decades of pre-automation experience. I wonder if young modern pilots, who spend most of their time managing computers, can do the same thing. 

NyQuil and Drones Don't Mix

 Everyone gets sick. Everyone gets colds. Everyone takes medicine that helps relieve the pain and symptoms of the cold and flu and makes them a little drowsy in return. 

But not everyone flies drones. 

Over-the-counter (OTC) medications pose a real risk to UAS pilots. They're easily accessed and commonly used; their effects are typically mild. However, the Benadryl that you take safely in your living room can become a dangerous drug when you take the controls of your drone. 

This is one thing that all UAS operators must remember: a drone isn't a toy, even if that is how they are marketed. Once you're flying a drone that weighs several pounds and is flying fifty feet or higher in the air, you are in control of a projectile that can become lethal if it crashes into something (or someone) or plummets out of the sky. 

UAS pilots have a responsibility to mitigate risk when they fly. From a human factors perspective, that means being well-rested, relatively healthy, and of sound mind. Yes, just like the "real" pilots who fly manned craft. When you are in control of an aerial vehicle, you are a pilot, regardless of whether or not you are sitting in the cockpit. 

Fatigue degrades decision making and reaction time. Stress does the same. The first is a physiological effect. The second is a distractive effect. The net result is the same: riskier operation. 

The moral of the story: if you're impaired to the point where you can't safely operate a manned aircraft, you're impaired to the point where you can't fly a drone, either. Get some sleep, clear your head, and stay away from the drowsy medications. The quadcopter will be there tomorrow. 

Flying Drones and Managing Risks

 ADM is a key acronym in both manned an unmanned flight. It stands for "aeronautical decision making", and it covers everything from the flight plan and fuel load to decisions made while in flight. 

Risk management is exactly what it sounds like: an assessment of risk, and then actions taken to mitigate that risk. 

Those of us in the military are intimately familiar with risk management. Everything we do is based around it. Qualification ranges, road marches, motorized movement...anything which poses a risk is scrutinized and analyzed, and then controls are developed to mitigate that risk. The end result is prevented injuries and saved lives. 

I wasn't familiar with the concept of ADM until very recently, but it makes sense. It is a systematic approach to flight and the challenges that come with it. ADM and risk management are the same thing in many ways. ADM is a systematic approach to flight that maximizes efficiency while reducing risk as much as possible. 

UAS pilots face an interesting challenge when it comes to both ADM and risk management. On the ADM side, UAS pilots need to be well-versed in the laws of the place where they intend to operate their drones. Failing to understand the law may lead to tickets and citations. Pilots of manned craft have no such concerns. 

On the risk management side, UAS pilots need to account for terrain, weather, and other factors typical for manned craft pilots. They also have to account for sensor range and lost link fail safes, something that does not concern manned pilots. They also need to be highly aware of the concentrations of people in the areas they choose to fly. Even if it is legal to fly above groups of people in a particular area (it isn't always legal, drone pilots - check your local laws!), a crashing drone can still hurt someone, and the pilot will still be liable. 

There are human factors at play affecting licensed UAS pilots that I never would have considered until recently. The biggest is the way people themselves see drones. Many people look at drones as toys, nuisances, or invasions of privacy, which in turn leads local lawmakers to issue laws restricting their operation. Manned pilots only need to worry about FAA regulations. UAS pilots have to learn local laws an ordinances as well. 

The moral of the story: if you want to fly a drone, get licensed. And then, become very familiar with the laws where you intend to fly the machine. 

And then, do what all good pilots do: have a good ADM system in place, and always practice risk management.