Functional requirements for onboard intelligent automation in single pilot operations
There is growing interest in the concept of Single Pilot Operations (SPO) within commercial flight operations due to the potential economic benefits. Prior research has focused on architectures and safety concerns related to SPO, but has not examined what functionalities automation would need to fulfill in the replacement of a co-pilot. Through guided interviews conducted with experienced commercial airline pilots, this effort demonstrates what functionalities would need to be replicated by an on-board intelligent system. These interviews revealed both desired and potentially deficient qualities of co-pilots, providing some guidance into how automated systems could be designed to best replace current human co-pilots. The interviews also provided perspectives about the issues of pilot selection and training, and the social implications of the use of an automated system in the cockpit rather than a human co-pilot. Given the results from the interviews, we developed a list of a dozen functionalities and capabilities that an onboard intelligent system should be able to replicate in order for a single human pilot to be able to manage the workload in piloting an aircraft in transport missions.
