SAFELAND CORE ELEMENTS
The methodology beyond the main concept of SAFELAND, in which the hypothesis is that the pilot is incapacitated and no longer able to perform his job to the required level consists of the following core elements:
ONBOARD AUTOMATION
Onboard automation may interact with the remote pilot and/or directly with the Air Traffic Controller (ATCO). It can also interact with the incapacitated pilot or other staff onboard if they are able to provide some airborne flight support functions.
GROUND SUPPORT
The ground support can have a residual collaboration from onboard (the incapacitated pilot or other staff) if some airborne support functions such as monitoring or alerting can still be provided.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER (ATCO)
- In the case of the Replacement Through Automation, ATCO interacts directly with onboard automation. In such a case he could upload routing and landing information directly to the aircraft and monitor their execution.
- In the case of the Second Pilot Displacement, ATCO supports the remote pilot, providing him with all the required information.
- In both cases, ATCO contributes by clearing the way from other aircraft, coordinating emergency response services at the aerodrome chosen for landing, and stopping runway operations at a reasonable time before the expected landing.
REMOTE PILOT
The remote pilot operates with the onboard systems and automation, with the support of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) and, if needed, of the Airline Operation Control Centre.
AIRLINE OPERATION CONTROL CENTRE (OOC)
The OOC supports the remote pilot and the ATCO providing all the specific flight and aircraft information they could need. This is important because the remote pilot and the ATCO support several single pilot operated aircraft and then they are not aware of potential key information about each specific aircraft (e.g. maintenance data, checklist outcome).
INCAPACITATED PILOT
The incapacitated pilot may support the remote pilot and/or the ATCO if still able to conduct some airborne support functions such as monitoring or alerting.
SAFELAND EVALUATION
The SAFELAND concept will be evaluated at different phases of its development with several techniques including a real time simulation integrating a cockpit simulator, a control work position, and a ground cockpit simulator. The evaluation will investigate different aspects including human factor, safety, security and cybersecurity, legal, economy, regulatory and ethics.