Civil Pilots Research Articles

KNOWLEDGE ALLIANCE AS EDUCATION SERVICES: UPDATED CONTENT OF INTEGRATED FLIGHT PREPARATION AND TRAINING OF PILOTS

The article examines the current aspects of new education and training of pilots within the Knowledge Alliance of Aviation Education as the State-Privat Partnership in the Education Services in the conditions of the Slovak Republic. This article represents the part of the feasibility study. In order to ensure the continuity, quality and safety in the aviation education of future military and civil pilots as the aviation professionals, research works of a similar nature are needed. This article used analysis and synthesis tools, the method “per partes” (integration in parts) and the expert method. Authors solved the following praxeological questions: Which entity is competent and eligible for the comprehensive training of pilots as professionals? What kind of organization of education processes will ensure the required output and efficient use of available public and private resources? The answers to the praxeological issues are presented as the proposal of content of integrated flight preparation and training of pilots under the key leadership of the Air Force and their state, public and private partners. The output of the article is the proposal for the new content of the education and training of pilots.

SITUATIONAL MANAGEMENT OF INTEGRATED FLIGHT PREPARATION AND TRAINING OF PILOTS AS AN EDUCATION SERVICE

This article examines the situational management of the Knowledge Alliance of Aviation Education as an Education Service in the conditions of the Slovak Republic. It is the second part of our study. In order to ensure the continuity, quality and safety in the aviation education of future military and civil pilots as aviation professionals, research works of a similar nature are needed. This article uses analysis and synthesis tools, the method “per partes” (integration in parts) with the potential to apply the situational management method in the aviation practice and the expert method. Authors solved the following praxeological questions: What does situational management mean in the education and training of pilots? What are the sources of knowledge and good practice in the management of education and training of pilots? Which control processes can we use for the efficient management of education and training of pilots as a complex aviation system? The output of the article is the proposal of situational management of the comprehensive system of education and training of pilots with the support of evolutionary and cooperative management in the aviation practice of state-private entities.

Anticipated Negative Emotions Effect on Incident Involvement Among Civil Pilots.

INTRODUCTION: Human factors have contributed to a constant increase in the level and numbers of aviation incident involvement. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the relationships between anticipated negative emotions (ANEs) and incident involvement among Chinese civil pilots. Furthermore, this paper examines the role of risk perception and proactive coping within the relationships in order to understand the mechanisms underlying pilots' involvement in air transport incidents.METHODS: A cross-sectional regression design was used to measure ANEs (Anticipated Negative Emotions Scale), proactive coping (Proactive Coping Scale), risk perception (Pilot Risk Perception Scale), and incident involvement (Hazardous Events Scale) among 295 Chinese civil pilots from China Southern Airlines. Mediation and moderating effects were explored using regression analyses and were confirmed by the bootstrapping approach.RESULTS: The results show that ANEs are significantly correlated with risk perception (r = -0.55) and incident involvement (r = 0.28). ANEs have a direct effect on pilot involvement in incidents and have an indirect effect on pilot incident involvement through the influencing of risk perception. Proactive coping was also found to weaken the direct effect of anticipated negative emotions on incident involvement.DISCUSSION: The safety benefits of proactive coping are more pronounced among pilots with high levels of ANEs. The practical implications of the study include recommendations relating to injury prevention efforts in incident involvement. Future research directions are also discussed.Wang H, Xu Q, Yang C, You X, Ji M. Anticipated negative emotions effect on incident involvement among civil pilots. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2019; 90(9):774-781.

Identification and correlation analysis for performance shaping factors in flight crew operation

The dependency between PSFs (performance shaping factors) is gaining increasing attention in HRA (human reliability analysis). In this paper, 79 PSFs were identified through literature review and discussion of focus group, which is composed of human factors/HRA specialists and civil pilots. These PSFs were classified into 10 categories as cognitive characteristics, physiological and psychological characteristics, personal and social characteristics, procedures, task characteristics, human-machine interface, system state, phenomenology characteristics, physical working conditions team and organizational factors. Then a survey of 299 pilots was conducted. A self-rate scale was used to investigate how the pilots were influenced by these PSFs. Correlation analysis shows that the correlations between PSF subsets are moderate to strong. The result suggests further research on the dependency between PSFs and PSF interactions need to be included in future HRA efforts.

Assessment of Civil Flying Personnel Labor Intensity within a Special Working Conditions Assessment

In recent years expert communities have been debating actively issues of assessing civil pilots’ working conditions with the focus on labor intensity. Objectivity of the assessment of flight and cabin crews job sites can be improved using the evidence of links between a job hazard class determined by labor intensity and objective physiological changes or a long-term decline of occupational health and longevity gathered in aerospace medicine, labor and industrial ecology medicine. The authors give a summary of their recommendation for revision of the labor safety regulations.

Pilots’ Suicides at Business and General Aviation

A human factor is an integral part of the aviation and it becomes, together with a still improving technologies, an important component of the aviation. It cases nonstandard situations in the aviation. The goal of this paper, which deals with extreme cases of pilots´ psychic failures, is to summarize and suggest possible solutions of the cases when civil pilots used an aircraft to commit suicide or when they try to commit it. There are briefly described suicide cases in the first part of the paper. The cases are from business and general aviation. The next part of the paper is about an analysis of these cases. The cases are analysed from several aspects. The authors suggest possible precautions how to prevent these cases. The paper is based on the Study of extreme cases of aviation personnel psychic failure. This study was published by a Civil Aviation Authority of the Czech Republic in 2016.

The relationship of safety climate and psychological well-being with Indonesian civil pilots’ safety behavior

Safety behavior is very important in reducing occurrence of aviation accidents. The relationship of safety climate and psychological well-being with Indonesian civil pilots’ safety behavior. This was a cross-sectional study using the consecutive sampling technique that queried on safety climate, psychological well-being and safety behavior. Data were analyzed with multiple linear regression. Both alone and together, safety climate (ß = 0.646) and psychological well-being (ß = 0.231; p = 0.044) were positively and significantly related to safety behavior. Safety climate and psychological well-being simultaneously had a positive and significant impact on the Indonesian civil pilots’ safety behavior, with R2 = 0.742 and p-value ≤ 0.001. Even so, the safety climate had a more dominant impact on the safety behavior than the psychological well-being.

Effects of interior aircraft noise on pilot performance

How well the pilot performs tasks significantly affects flight efficiency and safety, and pilot performance is affected by factors in the cockpit environment. For example, studies have shown that interior aircraft noise affects pilot performance, but the potential cumulative effects of such noise have yet to be examined. The present study examined the cumulative influence of the interior noise of a light, propeller-driven, single-piston engine aircraft on operation-related performance of 14 civil pilots aged 22–26 years with 165–350 flight hours of experience. Pilots filled out a questionnaire asking about the perceived influence of noise on their performance. Then they were exposed to recorded cockpit noise, after which they were asked to execute a variety of standard flight simulation tasks on a flight simulator. Their performance was assessed based on objective measures. Analysis using descriptive methods, paired t-test and mixed linear regression showed no significant average and maximum deviations from predefined default parameters of standard flight elements in the presence of cumulative noise exposure up to 20% or 40% of permitted daily noise dose. The results of the self-report questionnaire and objective performance in flight simulations suggest that cumulative noise exposure may not significantly affect pilot aviating and navigating tasks. Further studies are eventually needed to verify and extend these results with higher cumulative noise exposure, more noise dose sequences and greater number of more experienced pilots.

The Use of a Poisson Regression to Evaluate Antihistamines and Fatal Aircraft Mishaps in Instrument Meteorological Conditions.

Research indicates that first-generation antihistamine usage may impair pilot performance by increasing the likelihood of vestibular illusions, spatial disorientation, and/or cognitive impairment. Second- and third-generation antihistamines generally have fewer impairing side effects and are approved for pilot use. We hypothesized that toxicological findings positive for second- and third-generation antihistamines are less likely to be associated with pilots involved in fatal mishaps than first-generation antihistamines. The evaluated population consisted of 1475 U.S. civil pilots fatally injured between September 30, 2008, and October 1, 2014. Mishap factors evaluated included year, weather conditions, airman rating, recent airman flight time, quarter of year, and time of day. Due to the low prevalence of positive antihistamine findings, a count-based model was selected, which can account for rare outcomes. The means and variances were close for both regression models supporting the assumption that the data follow a Poisson distribution; first-generation antihistamine mishap airmen (N = 582, M = 0.17, S2 = 0.17) with second- and third-generation antihistamine mishap airmen (N = 116, M = 0.20, S2 = 0.18). The data indicate fewer airmen with second- and third-generation antihistamines than first-generation antihistamines in their system are fatally injured while flying in IMC conditions. Whether the lower incidence is a factor of greater usage of first-generation antihistamines versus second- and third-generation antihistamines by the pilot population or fewer deleterious side effects with second- and third-generation antihistamines is unclear. These results engender cautious optimism, but additional research is necessary to determine why these differences exist.Gildea KM, Hileman CR, Rogers P, Salazar GJ, Paskoff LN. The use of a Poisson regression to evaluate antihistamines and fatal aircraft mishaps in instrument meteorological conditions. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2018; 89(4):389-395.

Protective Effects of Emotional Intelligence and Proactive Coping on Civil Pilots' Mental Health.

Pilots' mental health is an issue of crucial importance that may endanger flight safety. As such, it is of profound significance to address the question of what characteristics are protective of mental health among pilots. The present study aimed to explore the indirect effects of emotional intelligence (EI) on depression and anxiety via proactive coping, and examine the moderating role of previous flight experience (PFE) in the conditional indirect effect of EI on depression through proactive coping. A cross-sectional regression design was used to measure EI (Trait Meta Mood Scale), proactive coping (Proactive Coping Scale), depression (The PHQ-9), and anxiety (The GAD-7) among 319 Chinese civil pilots from China Southern Airlines. Mediation and moderated mediation effects were explored using regression analyses and were confirmed by the bootstrapping approach. Pilots reported relatively low levels of depression (M = 0.39, SD = 0.24) and anxiety (M = 0.22, SD = 0.23). Married pilots had higher levels of depression (t = 2.46) and anxiety (t = 3.07) than single pilots. Proactive coping mediated the association between EI and depression (B = -0.25), as well as the relationship between EI and anxiety (B = -0.23). Moreover, conditional process analysis showed that PFE moderated the indirect effect of EI on depression through proactive coping (b3 = 0.005), in which simple slope analysis showed a stronger mediating effect for pilots with more PFE (simple slope = -0.14). The results showed that EI and proactive coping had protective potential in the prevention of depression and anxiety. Implications for the promotion of mental health and diminishing depression and anxiety among pilots are discussed.Guo Y, Ji M, You X, Huang J. Protective effects of emotional intelligence and proactive coping on civil pilots' mental health. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(9):858-865.

Pilots using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors compared to other fatally injured pilots

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) were a disqualifying medication for U.S. civil pilots before April 5, 2010. After this date, a Federal Aviation Administration policy was created that allowed airmen, on select SSRIs, a pathway to hold a valid medical certificate. The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed look at SSRIs in the U.S. pilot population since the inception of this new policy. We examined the toxicology results from fatally injured airmen in addition to outcomes concerning pilots who are participating in the program. This study examined data from the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute's Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory in conjunction with the Medical Analysis Tracking Registry and the Document Imaging and Workflow System. A count-based regression model quantified the relationships between positive SSRI findings with additional factors of interest. These factors included pilot rating, ethanol, and first generation antihistamines. There were 1484 fatally injured airmen over the six year study period, of which 44-tested positive for an SSRI. First-generation antihistamines were statistically associated with positive findings of SSRIs.

Total working period and other risk factors related to eating protein foods habits among civil pilots in Indonesia

Total working period and other risk factors related to eating protein foods habits among civil pilots in Indonesia

Total working period and other risk factors related to eating protein foods habits among civil pilots in Indonesia

ABSTRAK Latar belakang: Kebiasaan makan protein yang berlebihan dapat menyebabkan penyakit ginjal dan hati serta meningkatkan risiko penyakit kardiovaskular yang dapat menyebabkan terjadinya inkapasitasi pada pilot. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mengidentifikasi faktor sosiodemografi dan faktor lainnya terhadap kebiasaan makan protein berlebih pada pilot sipil di Indonesia. Metode: Penelitian potong lintang menggunakan data sekunder Survei kebiasaan makan, minum dan latihan fisik pada pilot sipil di Indonesia 2016. Data yang dikumpulkan adalah karakteristik demografi, kebiasaan latihan fisik, pengetahuan, indeks massa tubuh dan karakteristik penerbangan. Analisis regresi cox dipakai untuk menganalisis faktor-faktor dominan yang berhubungan dengan kebiasaan makan protein berlebih. Hasil: Di antara 528 pilot yang berusia 19-64 tahun, 194 (36.74%) pilot memiliki kebiasaan makan protein berlebih. Lama masa kerja dan indeks massa tubuh menjadi faktor risiko dominan yang berkaitan dengan kebiasaan makan protein berlebih pada pilot. Jika dibandingkan dengan pilot dengan lama masa kerja 1 – 9 tahun, pilot dengan masa kerja 10 – 40 tahun berisiko 35% lebih kecil memiliki kebiasaan makan protein berlebih (RRa = 0.65 ; 95% CI 0.49 – 0.87). Jika dibandingkan dengan pilot dengan indeks massa tubuh normal, pilot yang overweight berisiko 34% lebih kecil memiliki kebiasaan makan protein berlebih (RRa = 0.66 ; 95% CI 0.47 – 0.93). Kesimpulan : Masa kerja yang lebih panjang dan overweight merupakan faktor protektif terhadap risiko kebiasaan makan protein berlebih Kata kunci : kebiasaan makan protein, lama masa kerja, indeks massa tubuh, pilot sipil Indonesia ABSTRACT Background: Excessive protein eating habits may cause kidney and liver disease and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease leading to incapacitation of the pilot. The purpose of this study was to identify sociodemographic and other factors on protein eating habits among civilian pilots in Indonesia. Methods: A cross-sectional study using secondary data from the survey of eating, drinking and physical exercise habits among civilian pilots in Indonesia 2016. Data collected were demographic characteristics, physical exercise habits, smoking habits, knowledge, body mass index and flight characteristics. Cox regression analysis was used to analyze the dominant factors associated with protein eating habits. Results: Among 528 pilots aged 19-64 years, 194 (36.74%) pilots had excessive protein eating habits . Long working period and body mass index were the dominant risk factors associated with protein eating habit in pilots. Compared to pilots with 1-9 years working period, pilots with 10-40 years working period had 35% lower risk of excessive protein eating habits (RRA = 0.65; 95% CI 0:49 - 0.87). Compared to pilots with normal body mass index, overweight pilots had 34% lower risk of excessive protein eating habits (RRA = 0.66; 95% CI 0:47 - 0.93). Conclusion: Long working period and overweight were protective factors from the risk of excessive protein eating habits Keywords: protein eating habits, total working periode, body mass index, civilian pilots Indonesia

Total working period and other risk factors related to eating protein foods habits among civil pilots in Indonesia

Total working period and other risk factors related to eating protein foods habits among civil pilots in Indonesia

ОЦЕНКА НАПРЯЖЕННОСТИ ТРУДА ЛЕТНОГО СОСТАВА ГРАЖДАНСКОЙ АВИАЦИИ В РАМКАХ СПЕЦИАЛЬНОЙ ОЦЕНКИ УСЛОВИЙ ТРУДА

In recent years expert communities have been debating actively issues of assessing civil pilots’ working conditions with the focus on labor intensity. Objectivity of the assessment of flight and cabin crews job sites can be improved using the evidence of links between a job hazard class determined by labor intensity and objective physiological changes or a long-term decline of occupational health and longevity gathered in aerospace medicine, labor and industrial ecology medicine. The authors give a summary of their recommendation for revision of the labor safety regulations.

Prenosological approach to attaining the objectives of aviation medical expert assessment

Early diagnosis of diseases and conditions undesirable in terms of flight safety in senior pilots is tightly linked with the evaluation of disease risks. Prenosological diagnostics is focused on borderline states that may pass from health to disease (prenosology and premorbidity) and, vice versa, from disease to recovery (post-nosology). Regarding health as a vital adaptation reserve, prenosology diagnostics is concerned with the ability of the body to adapt to the environment rather than develop a disease. A constant drain of adaptation reserves may become the reason for increased risks of disease. Heart rate variability analysis is one of the instruments of prenosological diagnostics. The paper discusses the applicability of the space-medicine oriented probabilistic approach to the evaluation of adaptation risks by medical expert assessment boards certifying civil pilots. The results of two series of investigations showed increased adaptation risks and reduced functional reserves in pilots found unfit to continue their careers.

SİVİL PİLOT ADAYLARI İÇİN SEÇİM KRİTERLERİNİN BELİRLENMESİ

For aviation sector, selection of operators like pilots or air traffic controllers is crucial. Since the cost for pilot training is high, pilots dropping out of school and failures are great loss for the organization. Therefore; during the selection, the identification and elimination of the pilot candidates that carry the error potential shall increase the success rate in pilot training. For this purpose; it is necessary to make analyses for the determination of criteria in selection of civil pilots. In this study, binary logistic regression and multiple linear regression analyses were performed for determination of selection criteria about the acceptance for department of pilot training and finding the contribution rates of these selection criteria. In the study, as the selection criteria; candidate’s scores from psychomotor, cognitive, and quantitative ability tests, the scores from quantitative section of the university entrance exam, secondary education success grade and the score from the oral examination were taken into consideration. In the analyses, the data obtained from the selection examinations for department of pilot training were used. According to the results of the regression analysis; quantitative section scores of the university entrance exam, visual memory test, selection flights and oral examination were determined as important selection criteria. With a proactive approach to department of pilot training, while selecting a candidate having the least error; the results obtained from this study are intended to be used. Keywords: Pilot selection, binary logistic regression, multiple linear regression

Investigating Cooperative Behavior in Ecological Settings: An EEG Hyperscanning Study.

The coordinated interactions between individuals are fundamental for the success of the activities in some professional categories. We reported on brain-to-brain cooperative interactions between civil pilots during a simulated flight. We demonstrated for the first time how the combination of neuroelectrical hyperscanning and intersubject connectivity could provide indicators sensitive to the humans’ degree of synchronization under a highly demanding task performed in an ecological environment. Our results showed how intersubject connectivity was able to i) characterize the degree of cooperation between pilots in different phases of the flight, and ii) to highlight the role of specific brain macro areas in cooperative behavior. During the most cooperative flight phases pilots showed, in fact, dense patterns of interbrain connectivity, mainly linking frontal and parietal brain areas. On the contrary, the amount of interbrain connections went close to zero in the non-cooperative phase. The reliability of the interbrain connectivity patterns was verified by means of a baseline condition represented by formal couples, i.e. pilots paired offline for the connectivity analysis but not simultaneously recorded during the flight. Interbrain density was, in fact, significantly higher in real couples with respect to formal couples in the cooperative flight phases. All the achieved results demonstrated how the description of brain networks at the basis of cooperation could effectively benefit from a hyperscanning approach. Interbrain connectivity was, in fact, more informative in the investigation of cooperative behavior with respect to established EEG signal processing methodologies applied at a single subject level.

New Technologies for Assessing Health in Essentially Healthy People

This article discusses the problems of developing new techniques for assessing health in essentially healthy people, based on the experience of many years of studying cosmonauts at the Institute of Medical-Biological Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, led by Academician A. I. Grigor’ev. The monograph Concepts of Health in Space Medicine was published in 2007 and described principles for assessing health in essentially healthy people working in conditions of chronic stress. These principles were put into practice in the same year by development of the Ecosan-2007 apparatus. This was trialed on bus drivers and civil pilots and has been used in the Mars 500 project since 2009. All these developments and investigations were performed with the support of the “Basic sciences – medicine” Program of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the initiator and coordinator of the investigations was Academician A. I. Grigor’ev. In the Mars 500 project, six members of an international “Mars” crew were studied in a hermetically sealed chamber simulating a spacecraft. The Ecosan-2007 apparatus was used, among others. This apparatus was used to assess a further 125 subjects in 12 different parts of the world, living in natural social-industrial conditions. These long-term medical-ecological studies yielded important experimental grounds for a preclinical approach to assessment of health. A methodology for the remote assessment of the effects of ecological factors on health was developed in the framework of these studies, and this gave rise to a new applied scientific area – telemedicine ecology. The article concludes by evaluated questions of the further introduction of new techniques for preclinical diagnosis into healthcare practice.

In-Flight Incapacitation and Cystic Medial Necrosis

The major causes of in-flight fatal incapacitation in civil pilots are acute coronary events, new onset idiopathic epilepsy, and physiological problems. Less than 1% of all air accidents are due to sudden incapacitaion. The problem with acute coronary disease is very serious when occurring during critical stages of the flight, such as takeoff or landing, rather than during the cruising phase. The authors describe the fatal in-flight incapacitation in a Czech airline captain during the approach for landing. In this case, the first officer tried to communicate with the captain, but there was no response and first aid was unsuccessful. The post-mortem examination showed the cause of the sudden death to be an aortic dissection with cardiac tamponade due to cystic medial necrosis (Erdheim disease). The authors describe the clinical and histological features of Erdheim disease. The normal aorta contains collagen, elastin, and smooth muscle cells that form the vessel wall. Degenerative changes lead to breakdown of the collagen, elastin, and smooth muscle, and an increase in basophillic ground substance with the formation of cysts and accumulation of mucopolysaccharide. Medical incapacitation in the cockpit is rare. The leading causes of fatal in-flight incapacitation are myocardial infarction, cardiac arrhythmias, and epileptic seizures; cystic medial necrosis is very rare and no similar cases were found in the aviation literature.