Pre-flight Safety Research Articles

Geospatial technologies for an automated holistic risk assessment of UAS operations

Abstract. The rising number of UAS operations in the European airspace poses a safety issue. The key problem is to ensure safe drone traffic management and their integration into the existing air traffic environment. Thus, risk assessment becomes an integral part of every UAS operation and its automation is of great importance when dealing with growing numbers of flights. There exist many attempts to support such risk assessment, but an optimal solution is yet to be found. This paper presents a prototype of a web application, which automates strategic risk assessment of open and specific UAS operations in Austria with the use of open government geodata. Risk assessment results are visualized on a map, showing spatial distribution of classified risks in the operational area. This prototype is the first attempt to combine the functions of a “drone map” representing relevant geodata and a questionnaire usually used to support specific operation risk assessment. There is a potential to turn it into a tool which is used to create a comprehensive pre-flight safety portfolio or to support the automatic risk assessment performed by a UTM before a UAS operation is checked in. Simplifying the creation of safety portfolios and automating UAS operation risk assessment are important factors in promoting a wider and safer use of UAS.

Willingness to Watch the Pre-Flight Safety Briefing: A Structural Model

ABSTRACT Objective: The purpose of the current study was to examine the factors that significantly influence a passenger’s willingness to watch the pre-flight safety briefing. Background: The pre-flight safety briefing is a required presentation that must be administered to all passengers before conducting a flight. This briefing is most commonly delivered via a live demonstration by flight attendants or through the aircraft’s in-flight entertainment system, such as a seatback video. Method: Using a sample of 876 participants from the United States, we examined the influence of familiarity, anticipatory flight anxiety, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and frequency of flying on willingness to watch the pre-flight safety briefing. The study used a quantitative correlational design with structural equation modeling techniques for data analysis. Results: The results supported 5 of the 7 hypotheses. High levels of flight anxiety resulted in less willingness to watch the pre-flight safety briefing. Significant positive relationships were found between familiarity, conscientiousness, agreeableness on the willingness to watch. A strong relationship between willingness to watch and stated actual watching also was found. Conclusions: The study’s findings provide insight into what factors influence a passenger’s willingness to watch and examine the role personality factors have on willingness. As a result of this study, insights are gained into possible ways to increase passengers’ willingness to watch the pre-flight safety briefing and their consumption of this vital safety information.

A Smart Landing Platform With Data-Driven Analytic Procedures for UAV Preflight Safety Diagnosis

Due to the limitation imposed by hardware and form factor considerations, multirotor unmanned aircraft (drones) are unable to conduct preflight physical checks on their own capacity. Critical safety checks involve detecting various anomalies such as imbalanced payload, damaged propellers, mulfunctioning motors and poorly calibrated compass, etc. Human efforts are currently required for performing such tasks, which impedes large-scale deployments of drones and increases the operational costs. In this work, we propose a weight-measuring landing platform along with a set of statistical inference algorithms aimed at performing safety checks for any multicopter aircraft that lands on the platform. We develop a nonconvex nonlinear least squares model for estimating the center of gravity and orientation of the aircraft, and derive a recursive formula for calculating the optimal solution. In numeric experiments, our analytical solution method has been able to find the global solution orders-of-magnitude faster than a global optimization solver. We have conducted real-system tests on a quadcopter drone deliberately configured to carry misplaced payload, and to use damaged propellers. Experiment results show that the platform is able to detect and profile these common safety issues with high accuracy.

Safety briefing and visual design key to protecting health care personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread changes as countries echo the call for millions to stay at home in an attempt to limit transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that is responsible for the COVID-19 infection. Health care personnel (HCP), on the other hand, continue to serve on the front line. With their being a limited, human resource, it is paramount that the safety of HCP is not compromised.1Adams JG, Walls RM. Supporting the health care workforce during the COVID-19 global epidemic. JAMA. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.3972. Accessed July 17. 2020Google Scholar At our health service in Victoria, Australia, we have implemented a human factor-centric education model with the aim to maximize safety through key messages and clear communication. Our health service, Monash Health is Victoria's largest public health service network and includes three major metropolitan hospitals. Our education model is based on providing consistent and clear safety messages to all HCP, regardless of role and hospital site. It is modelled on the principles of pre-flight safety announcements used in the aviation industry; another high-stakes sector. Infographics (Fig 1), video summaries and pre-shift briefings are part of the education model.2COVID19AsOne. Sourcing non-medical grade personal protection equipment (PPE) for use in healthcare worker (HCW) training. 2020. Available at: https://www.covid19asone.com/sourcing-ppe-1. Accessed May 20, 2020.Google ScholarFig. 1.Visual design for safety briefing at the start of the shift and at clinical areas.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT) This model encompasses 6 key messages to:1.Reinforce the importance of identifying the virus as the predominant danger2.Include personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to danger3.Focus on hand hygiene4.Reinforce social distancing5.Encourage HCP wellness and teamwork6.Maximize communication, ensure understanding, and provide an opportunity for feedback and questions The importance of cognitive aids for education of HCP is important to maximize their safety. As countries transition to an endemic phase of COVID-19 and the rate of asymptomatic carriage increases, we aim to use these aids to reduce danger to HCP, patients and the community. We believe it is important to reinforce the need to consider all potential dangers when managing COVID-19 patients (“The D [danger] comes first”). The DRSABCD mnemonic actively used in critical care and resuscitation is displayed to relay the acuity of the situation.3Australian Resuscitation Council. ARC flowcharts. 2016. Available at: https://resus.org.au/guidelines/flowcharts-3/. Accessed April 7, 2020Google Scholar This will encourage the health care team to respond (“R” in DRSABCD) appropriately by applying PPE. Hand hygiene compliance has been effective in reducing hospital-acquired infections,4Grayson ML Stewardson AJ Russo PL et al.Effects of the Australian National Hand Hygiene Initiative after 8 years on infection control practices, health-care worker education, and clinical outcomes: a longitudinal study.Lancet Infect Dis. 2018; 18: 1269-1277Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (47) Google Scholar and remains vital during a pandemic to reduce viral spread in HCP and patients with known, suspected or unknown COVID-19. Through active and passive social distancing, we aim to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission between HCP, patients and community. The reinforcement of adherence to PPE and double-checking PPE fit with a co-worker minimizes risk a virus transmission to other HCP and patients. The briefing is designed to be multidisciplinary and inclusive of the whole HCP team. Part of the safety model is the wellness check for HCP. Finally, closed loop feedback and communication allows for active updates to our education model to ensure continued relevance for all HCP staff. With the use of human factors, our education model aims to become a cognitive aid for all HCP to maintain safety during the pandemic. A recent study identified suboptimal hand hygiene and long duty hours as risk factors for COVID-19 transmission to HCP.5Ran L, Chen X, Wang Y, Wu W, Zhang L, Tan X. Risk factors of healthcare workers with corona virus disease 2019: a retrospective cohort study in a designated hospital of Wuhan in China. Clin Infect Dis. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa287. Accessed July 17. 2020Google Scholar Therefore, one must consider other factors apart from PPE to prevent transmission of COVID-19. The use of easily identifiable infographics with simple and consistent shift briefings allows for the rapid communication of information to HCP across multiple hospitals, while maintaining message recognition. A culture of safety and confidence among HCP during this pandemic will not only ensure their safety, but also that of their patients and the community.

훈련용 항공기 비행전 안전 프로토콜 개발

훈련용 항공기 비행전 안전 프로토콜 개발

Communicating safety information: Investigating how distractors affect the recall of key safety information in pre-flight safety briefings

Distractors have been shown to adversely impact individuals' ability to acquire target information. However, not all distractors are the same. Distractors that compete/interfere for the same cognitive resources as the target, are thought to be more detrimental to performance than those that do not compete for the same resources. The aim of the present research was to examine the effect of distractors on individuals' memory, namely recall of key safety messages presented in an airline's pre-flight safety briefing. In a laboratory experiment in which one-hundred and twenty-four participants watched one of four different videos, two of which were paired with a distractor task (grammatical reason and computation task), we identified the adverse effect of the distractor task on recall performance. Minor differences were noted between the two distractor task groups. These results suggest the effect of a distractor on performance may be explained, in general by the additional cognitive load imposed, as opposed to the more specific competition for the same cognitive resources. From an applied perspective, these results highlight the importance of limiting distractors when important information to be remembered is communicated.

Regulatory Aspects of Passenger and Crew Safety: Crash Survivability and the Emergency Brace Position

Aviation’s safety record continues to improve yearly, especially with respect to passenger and crew injuries and deaths. However, although the number of accidents has decreased over the decades, there are still many events, such as landings short of the runway and runway excursions, both of which pose threats to passenger and crew safety. Surviving any kind of aviation accident depends on the physiological threat and stress of the impact(s), the extent to which the physical structure surrounding the passengers and crew remains intact, and the ability of the passengers and crew to be able to escape the wreckage. The one action that both passengers and crew can carry out to help decrease the likelihood of crash-related injury or death is to assume an emergency brace position. Doing so has been demonstrated over several decades to improve survivability. While cabin crew are taught (and then might have to teach passengers in an emergency about the emergency brace position), passengers in many parts of the world never learn about the brace position unless they are involved in an emergency in which there is time to prepare for the landing. This lack of provision of information is related to the fact that most airlines do not provide information in the preflight safety briefing and some do not even provide the information in the passenger safety cards. Many countries do not require their airlines to do so, a fact, which in turn, is related to the lack of mention of the brace position in ICAO’s Annex 6. Until standards and recommended practices are changed at the highest world level, passengers will continue to be deprived of this vital, life-saving information that they can use, potentially to help save their own lives.

Air passenger's perception toward pre-flight safety briefing videos: Does it matter?

This study extends the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model with an additional construct (i.e., air passenger's perception toward pre-flight safety communication) in the context of the commercial airline industry. Specifically, this study investigates the relationship among air passengers' perceptions of pre-flight safety communication, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and behavioral intentions. A preliminary study was conducted by soliciting responses from 333 college students in Taiwan. Additional efforts were made to solicit survey participation from tourists who have travelled by air and are more likely to use air travel than a pure student sample. Specifically, surveys were administered to a popular online consumer panel in Taiwan, and a total number of 630 valid survey responses were returned. Empirical results based on the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique indicated that air passengers' perceptions of pre-flight safety communication consist of three sub-dimensions (i.e., regulation and safety equipment, instructions for equipment, general information). Meanwhile, air passengers' perceptions of pre-flight safety communication had a positive and significant influence on both air passengers' attitudes and perceived behavioral control which, in turn, influenced their intentions to pay attention to the safety briefing video. Interestingly, air passengers' perceptions of pre-flight safety communication effectiveness do not have a significant effect on air passenger's intention to pay attention to the briefing videos. In addition, the subjective norm has a positive and significant impact on air passengers' intention of receiving the pre-flight safety video briefing. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed in this study.

Preflight Safety Briefings: Understanding the Relationship Between Mode of Delivery, Recall of Key Safety Messages, and Mood

ABSTRACTObjective: The aim of this research was to examine how mode of delivery affects recall of key information presented in the preflight safety briefing as well as mood.Background: Preflight safety briefings are required prior to every commercial flight. To meet this requirement, airlines often use prerecorded briefings, in the form of audio or video, which can sometimes be supplemented with a live demonstration.Method: One hundred and sixty-two participants were randomly divided into 5 groups—control (no briefing), audio only, audio plus live demonstration, video only, and video plus live demonstration—and exposed to a prerecorded safety briefing. Recall performance in terms of key safety messages was analyzed postbriefing, as well as changes in mood from pre- to postbriefing.Results: Recall of certain key safety information is related to both cabin crew members and the medium in which the safety material is delivered. Native English speakers also recalled more information than their non-native counterparts. Participants' mood was adversely affected in the video condition.Conclusion: These results highlight the limitations associated with the way many airlines presently deliver their preflight safety briefing.

Safety knowledge transfer through mobile virtual reality: A study of aviation life preserver donning

Aviation safety knowledge is a key factor in determining how passengers will respond in an emergency, but the effectiveness of the tools (preflight safety briefing, safety briefing card) used by airlines to educate passengers about safety has been shown to be lacking. This paper explores how one of these tools could be made interactive in order to increase its effectiveness. In particular, we use Virtual Reality (VR) techniques, adapting them to the constraints imposed by on-board aircraft use, such as usage on non-immersive, small displays. As a practical application, the paper examines aviation life preserver donning, which the literature has shown to be particularly difficult for passengers. To evaluate the proposed mobile VR tool, we contrasted it with the traditional safety briefing card in a between-groups study with 68 participants, age 20–24, focusing on different aspects of effectiveness. The results of the study show that the participants who used the mobile VR tool were able to transfer the presented safety knowledge to the real world, and don an aviation life preserver significantly faster and with fewer errors than participants who used the traditional briefing card. Moreover, these objective results were consistent with subjective ratings by participants; the mobile VR tool was perceived as significantly more engaging, simpler, and more effective than the traditional briefing card. Finally, participants who used the mobile VR tool attained a higher level of self-efficacy. The generalizability of these results would benefit with additional work aimed at an older age cohort that would ostensibly be less familiar with interactive VR technology.

A Comparison of Airline Safety Videos in Information Acquisition

This study examined the effect of humor on airline safety information retention. Passenger attention to pre- flight safety demonstrations is low, even though it may impact the chance of survival in an aviation accident. Airlines have employed humor and entertainment to educate passengers on safety information. This study explored whether the humorous presentation increases retention of safety information, or if humor acts as a distraction from safety relevant information. Participants viewed two pre-flight safety demonstration videos (humorous and non-humorous) in counterbalanced order then answered short-answer questions about the content of the videos. Retention scores after viewing either type of video for the first time were the same. However, when a humorous video was shown prior to a standard safety video, retention scores for safety material dropped. These findings suggest that humorous safety demonstrations may be more effective, not because they are best at conveying information, but because passengers do not attend to standard videos if they have previously been exposed to a humorous version.

The Effect of Mood on Performance in a Nonnormal Situation

Abstract. The effect of mood on performance in everyday situations is widely studied and the results commonly reveal a mood-congruence relationship. However, little is known about the effect of mood on performance in nonnormal situations such as those experienced during an unscheduled event. This study investigated whether induced mood (positive or negative) influenced performance during an unscheduled aircraft evacuation. Forty-five participants (15 female), with an average age of 21.90 (SD = 3.96) years, were randomly exposed to either positive or negative mood facilitation. Following this, all participants watched the same preflight safety video, and then had to conduct an unscheduled evacuation following a simulated water ditching. Participants exposed to a positive mood manipulator were found to commit fewer errors during the evacuation exercise and completed the evacuation in less than half of the time taken by participants who were exposed to a negative mood manipulator. In safety-critical environments such as aviation, these results highlight the advantages of creating an atmosphere or environment that induces positive moods.

Selling safety: the use of celebrities in improving awareness of safety in commercial aviation

The aim of this study was to investigate the influential power of a celebrity to convey key safety messages in commercial aviation using a pre-flight safety briefing video. In addition, the present research sought to examine the effectiveness of subtitles in aiding the recall of these important messages as well as how in-cabin aircraft noise affects recall of this information. A total of 101 participants were randomly divided into four groups (no noise without subtitles, no noise with subtitles, noise without subtitles and noise with subtitles) and following exposure to a pre-recorded pre-flight safety briefing video were tested for recall of key safety messages within that video. Participants who recognised and recalled the name of the celebrity in the safety briefing video recalled significantly more of the messages than participants who did not recognise the celebrity. Subtitles were also found to be effective, however, only in the presence of representative in-cabin aircraft noise. Practitioner Summary: Passenger attention to pre-flight safety briefings on commercial aircraft is poor. Utilising the celebrity status of a famous person may overcome this problem. Results suggest that celebrities do increase the recall of safety-related information.

Pre-flight safety briefings, mood and information retention

Mood is a moderating factor that is known to affect performance. For airlines, the delivery of the pre-flight safety briefing prior to a commercial flight is not only an opportunity to inform passengers about the safety features on-board the aircraft they are flying, but an opportunity to positively influence their mood, and hence performance in the unlikely event of an emergency. The present research examined whether indeed the pre-flight safety briefing could be used to positively impact passengers' mood. In addition, the present research examined whether the recall of key safety messages contained within the pre-flight safety briefing was influenced by the style of briefing. Eighty-two participants were recruited for the research and divided into three groups; each group exposed to a different pre-flight cabin safety briefing video (standard, humorous, movie theme). Mood was measured prior and post safety briefing. The results revealed that pre-flight safety briefing videos can be used to manipulate passengers' mood. Safety briefings that are humorous or use movie themes to model their briefing were found to positively affect mood. However, there was a trade-off between entertainment and education, the greater the entertainment value, the poorer the retention of key safety messages. The results of the research are discussed from both an applied and theoretical perspective.

Employing humour and celebrities to manipulate passengers’ attention to pre-flight safety briefing videos in commercial aviation

Passengers’ attention to the pre-flight safety briefing video prior to commercial flights has been described as poor, at best. This has resulted in some airlines employing creative marketing techniques such as using humour or celebrities to improve passenger’ attention to the material. The effectiveness of such techniques remains unknown and therefore was the main aim of the present research. 45 participants were randomly divided into three groups (standard safety video, humorous safety video, and celebrity safety video), and each group were asked to watch a series of videos with the target pre-flight safety briefing video embedded at the end of the video sequence. Eye gaze as well as key safety messages recalled were analysed and compared between groups. The results revealed the humorous pre-flight safety briefing video to be the most effective in maintaining participants’ attention as well as recall of key safety messages. Alarmingly, recall of key safety messages between the three videos averaged fifty per cent, suggesting that the airlines and aviation authorities need to rethink the way in which they convey safety critical information to passengers.

Examining the Effectiveness of Pre-Flight Cabin Safety Announcements in Commercial Aviation

The aim of this study was to test 3 different pre-flight safety videos (no humor, with humor, and use of a celebrity) in terms of their memorability for the key safety messages. A secondary aim was to test changes in participants’ mood as a result of being exposed to different safety videos. Sixty-one participants completed the study and were tested at 2 different intervals for recall of key safety messages (postvideo exposure and 2-hr follow-up), and at 3 different intervals for their mood (pre-exposure to video, postvideo, and 2-hr follow-up). The use of a celebrity or humor in the pre-flight safety video proved effective in terms of memory for key safety messages, and the video containing humor was the only video to positively influence individuals’ mood.

Investigation of the role for noise canceling headphones to assist speech recall in noise

There are many situations where it is necessary to hear, understand and be able to recall spoken information in less than ideal listening conditions. For example within an aircraft cabin where, despite improvements in modern passenger aircraft, noise generated from aircraft engines and aerodynamic airflow make it difficult to hear important on-board safety announcements such as the preflight safety brief. The benefits of headphones that incorporate active noise control in such environments are the focus of a series of research studies. In this paper, we discuss the techniques developed to investigate the use of active noise control headphones on the intelligibility and recall of speech generated outside the headsets in noise typical of that in a commercial aircraft cabin. The initial studies were directed towards assessing the effects on the recall for safety announcements. These studies have been extended to investigate if there are any benefits for those for which English is a second language. The results suggest that the use of active noise control headphones can minimize communication errors in a range of situations and this paper will discuss the methodology adopted and summarize the outcomes.

Improving intelligibility at a safety critical point: In flight cabin safety

The present study was designed to examine the impact of noise cancelling headphones on the intelligibility of auditory information, specific to the aviation industry. The majority of airlines in western countries prohibit the use of personal electronic devices which includes the use of noise cancelling headphones during the take-off and landing phase of flights. This blanket rule, may negatively impact on passengers’ ability to hear and remember important safety related information (i.e., pre-flight safety brief). 25 participants (12 male), with an average age of 25.96years, all with ‘normal’ hearing were asked to listen to five different audio briefs under five different experimental conditions presented in an environment designed to simulate an aircraft cabin environment. Each experimental condition varied based on a combination of noise cancelling headphones (active or inactive), music (present or absent) and sound source (headphones or external speaker). At the conclusion of each audio condition, participants were asked to complete a cued recall task. The use of noise cancelling headphones improved participants’ ability to hear and recall information in a situation similar to those where pre-flight safety briefs are presented. The results indicate the use of noise cancelling headphones, without any conflicting in ear audio signal, aided participants’ ability to hear and recall information. The findings suggest if the recall of safety information, including emergency procedures are crucial to passenger safety, authorities and airlines alike should reconsider the current restrictions on the use of noise cancelling headphones during those stages of flight when safety briefings are provided.

Effects of Video Weather Training Products, Web-Based Weather Briefing, and Local versus Non-Local Pilots on GA Pilot Weather Knowledge and Flight Behavior

This study explores 1) whether video weather training products significantly affect general aviation (GA) pilot weather knowledge and weather-related flight behavior, 2) use of modern Web-based weather preflight briefing products, and 3) whether local Oklahoma GA pilots differ appreciably from non-local pilots in weather knowledge or weather-related flight behavior. No highly significant, meaningful, simple effects were found for two 90-minute video weather training products on weather knowledge or subsequent flight safety on a simulated flight involving deteriorating weather. A data-collecting emulation of www.aviationweather.gov suggests that mere time spent on preflight briefing, pages viewed, and page view duration alone are not adequate predictors of either quality of preflight briefing nor subsequent flight safety. Finally, no important differences between local and non-local pilots were seen, implying that FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute flightdeck studies are generalizable to the national population of U.S. GA pilots.

Red spots among flight attendants: observation--a valuable investigative tool.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Bureau of Epidemiology of the Center for Disease Control investigated episodes of red spots appearing on the skin of flight attendants during various Eastern Airlines flights in the first three months of 1980. Review of 132 cases reported during January and February showed that 91 different flight attendants had been affected; 96% of cases had occurred on flights between the New York and Miami metropolitan areas, and 90% on a single type of aircraft. Although some reports mentioned burning, nausea, and headache in association with spots, most reports involved only the occurrence of bright red spots that could be wiped or washed off. Studies of work practices and procedures of flight attendants revealed that the red spots were caused by red ink flaking off the life vests during demonstrations of the use of the vests in preflight safety instructions. The demonstration vests were labelled with ink containing a litholrubine chrome molybdate orange pigment. Following removal of the implicated vests from all Eastern Airlines aircraft, no further cases have appeared.