A few thoughts on UAS crewmember selection

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Different philosophies in crew member selection for UAS arise from the wide array of crew positions, UAS size and capabilities, and operating environments (NAS or not).  UAS crews are comprised of external (takeoff and landing) and internal (mission operations) pilots, sensor operators, and other assorted positions that would require marginal knowledge of air traffic control rules and procedures.  Most UAS operations occur in visual meteorological conditions and not under positive control of Air Traffic Control.  Many UAS operations do not occur in airspace that conflicts with manned aircraft operations (Hottman, S. B., & Sortland, K., 2006).  UAS operations are expanding at a rate that cannot be matched by traditional flight training, therefore there is a need to expand selection criteria of crew members beyond traditional aviation selection if it is prudent and safe to do so.  However UAS operations are more complex and require cognitive skills and mental capabilities that are different from many other civil and military occupations.  In keeping with the FAA regulations currently under review, civilian UAS operators of mini UAS would still need to have basic aviation specific training on rules and UAS safety (training and qualification is the defacto selection criteria for civilian aviation operators).

I agree with qualifications tailored to the UAS platform, but not for the reasons listed by Cooke et al.  They assert that qualifications should be tailored to UAS based on the level of automation capabilities of the UAS platform.  I contend that the level of qualifications required for a UAS pilot should be in concert with the level of interaction the UAS would have with manned aircraft in the NAS, in addition to the roles the individual performs in the UAS mission.  In this scenario, internal pilots who have primary responsibility for monitoring the operations of the UAS while it conducts an automated mission would still be required to have a full awareness of operations in the NAS and would need to be selected largely in concert with manned aircraft pilot selection (a few notable exceptions like medical conditions that limit a pilot’s capability to operate at altitude). External pilots of mini and micro UAS which do not ever operate in concert with manned aircraft should not be required to have the level of training required by larger UAS that do integrate into the UAS.  These larger UAS operated primarily by the military should continue to have more stringent psychological, cognitive and personality testing due to the high risk nature of the missions and flight operations involved.

Hottman, S. B., and Sortland, K. (2006) UAV operators, other airspace users and regulators: Critical components of an uninhabited system.  In Cooke, N. J., Pringle, H. L., Pedersen, H. K. and Connor, O.  (Eds.) Human Factors of Remotely Operated Vehicles.