Overview
In the European strategy for air transport set out in, 'European Aeronautics: A Vision for 2020' a target of an 80% reduction in aircraft accidents is proposed as necessary. Following the publication of these targets, the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) produced a Strategic Research Agenda which identified that ensuring effective and reliable human performance would be a key contribution to the required accident reduction.
Analysis of accident data has shown that for 70% of aircraft accidents, human error on the flight deck is cited as the primary cause. In a further 15% of accidents human error on the flight deck is cited as a contributory cause. Deficiencies in maintenance are estimated to be involved in 12% of major accidents, and 50% of engine-related flight delays.
In a complex system like aviation, the human operator (pilot, air traffic controller, maintenance technician) plays a critical role, both within and between sub-systems. Optimising this role requires new design to reflect real human operational requirements.
It is clear that methods and technologies, which are targeted at reducing, capturing or mitigating human error, would provide a major step toward the required reduction in the accident rate.
The overall objectives of the HILAS project were to develop a 'System life-cycle' model for Human Factors in which knowledge is generated about the human aspects of the system at the operational end and this is then transformed into an active resource for the design of more effective operational systems and better, more innovative, use of technologies. The HILAS Knowledge Management System was to manage the use of the project's knowledge inside and outside project and support the transformation of operational knowledge to stimulate new design concepts. The human factors of new flight deck technologies were to be evaluated in an integrated simulation rig. A standardised European model for flight operations performance monitoring and process improvement using EFB was to be developed. Finally, an integrated and standardised set of tools and methods was to be developed for assessing and managing human factors across the aircraft maintenance lifecycle, from design to operations.
Whereas the flight deck strand had a clear bounded experimental methodology, which enabled it to deliver its programme of work very much according to the plan, in the flight operations, maintenance and knowledge integration strands there was a rather uneasy tension between action research and system development methodologies. Operational organisations, unlike large design and manufacturing organisations do not have research and development departments - thus research and development activities have to meet the short-term operational or organisational goals of the participating organisations, as well as the medium to long term research goals of the project. This fits well within an action research framework which concerns the implementation and evaluation of change, but these HILAS strands also had a mandate to develop supporting software systems. For the first two years of the project a system development methodology predominated, but this met a crisis when it was impossible to reconcile the range of scenarios offered - some of which were closely tied to specific software developments and others having a wider organisational context. The action research logic tended to dominate in the following period, with the software development programme being focused on a small number of distinct initiatives in different companies. As the integrated organisational framework became more mature in the last year of the project there was a concerted attempt to bring together a renewed system development programme, based on integrated services architecture. This was partially successful, and provides a strong platform for continuing research and development to bring the software concepts more downstream towards a commercially viable concept.
The project was structured into the following main work packages:
- Knowledge integration research strand;
- Flight operations & maintenance research strands;
- Flight deck research strand.
Funding
Results
Project achievements:
- Human factors evaluation in cockpit system design
The Flight Deck Strand developed a two cycle experimental programme to support the development and validation of a suite of human factors evaluation tools designed to meet emerging certification requirements. During this programme a set of new tools were developed, integrated with existing tools and deployed in a simulation rig with specific new applications of technology. The integration of a diverse set of human factors methodologies in a simulation environment, and the development of a common framework for analysing and applying the results of these methods represents a significant innovation, integrating a cost-effective HF assessment of new flight deck prototypes, within the technology development cycle.
- The management of operational performance, risk and change
The Flight Operations and Maintenance strands progressively integrated their research and development programme to produce a best-practice set of organisational processes for managing operational performance, risk and change, together with implementation guidance, documented case studies & evaluations of implementation in industrial partners. A services architecture to support an integrated set of software tools and methods was developed. A set of operational process models were developed representing the flight process (pre-flight to post flight) and a range of line and base maintenance processes. A methodology was developed for the in-depth analysis of the human role in operational processes. Methods for the survey and analysis of different aspects of organisational culture were developed and implemented in a number of organisations.
- Inter-organisational sharing, learning and innovation
A Knowledge Management System was developed to manage the project’s knowledge and materials. This facilitated and supported the emergence of an active collaboration network, especially between Flight Operations and Maintenance partners. This enables the development and sharing of best practice, based on the centres of excellence concept, in which the different participating organisations developed their own best practice in their areas of strength, supported by HILAS partners. Sharing and integrating this knowledge created the overall HILAS organisational concepts.
- The 'New Human Factors'
The overall conceptual framework developed in