Avionics News June 2023 - 61

MITRE's team developed the idea to research digital
co-pilot technology because general aviation accident
rates have been holding steady. Meanwhile, there have
been vanishingly few fatal accidents in Part 121 airline
operations in the United States. While about 300 people
are killed each year in general aviation accidents, as of
2022, it had been two years since anyone died in a Part
121 commercial jet accident. Moreover, there have only
been two fatalities in the past 12 years.
Half of the MITRE team are software engineers,
and the other half are human factors experts. Pollack's
colleague on the digital co-pilot project, Estes, had worked
on developing a low-cost runway incursion prevention
feature for portable hand-held computers with MITRE
independent R&D funding. The function told pilots they
were approaching a runway and to hold short. " It did just
one thing, but it did it very well, " he said. " We thought
there must be more that we can do. " The plan is to assist
general aviation safety in all phases of flight.
One new digital co-pilot feature is designed to help
single pilots with terrain awareness, and another is to help
them avoid a loss of control. " Panel-mounted navigation
systems show terrain but don't give the pilot an idea of
what it will take to avoid the terrain such as a certain
rate of climb to clear the mountain ahead, " Pollack said.
" It's sort of like asking Siri, could I hit the mountain? "
Controlled flight into terrain is a major concern in general
aviation safety.
To alert the pilot to the possibility he may lose control
of the aircraft, the digital co-pilot can alert him or her to
a slow roll in instrument conditions that goes unnoticed
by the inner ear and can result in a graveyard spiral. Loss
of control is responsible for a lot of general aviation fatal
accidents. A MITRE digital co-pilot algorithm can also
monitor energy management during an approach.
Part 121 operations include two pilots, and the human
co-pilot can assist not only with information prompts
and checklists but also actions coordinated with the pilot
flying the aircraft. When the Commercial Aviation Safety
Team started its work in 1997, it was probably hard for the
commercial aviation industry to imagine how successful
the effort would be in reducing fatal airline accidents.
Commercial jets live in a redundant-systems world
with multiple engines, guidance computers, and radios.
Single pilots of general aviation aircraft only have God
as a co-pilot as was suggested by a World War II fighter
pilot in the title of his 1943 book " God is My Co-pilot "
about his solo combat exploits. GA pilots have very few
redundant systems onboard their aircraft. MITRE wanted
to figure out how to assist these single pilots.
So far, the MITRE team has created 60 different
features, and the team continues to develop new features
and studies the top five to 10 types of accidents as one of
the inputs to that effort.
The digital co-pilot can be used as a memory
prompt. For example, if the controller tells the pilot to
report 3 miles on a left base, he has to remember this
request at the right moment while flying into the traffic
pattern, monitoring traffic, configuring the aircraft
and maneuvering to set up for an approach. So when
receiving that instruction, he can tell the digital co-pilot
to remind him to report at that point. The digital co-pilot
listens in and draws the reporting point on a map. It then
provides a visual or aural reminder when the aircraft
approaches that point.
The digital co-pilot application does not perform
primary navigation and is not certified to do so. MITRE
engineers work to minimize distractions. Speech
recognition is not perfect, and a pilot might have to repeat
the desired reminder, but he won't be head down while
doing so. " We make it intuitive and as easy to interact
with as possible, " Pollack said.
Pollack said the MITRE team makes no claims that
the algorithms can or will save lives in any particular
situation. The team does maintain it can make flying safer
and reduce pilot workload. MITRE is also testing the use
of AI, including neural networks and machine-learning
algorithms in the aviation domain, and there are a host of
issues to be addressed there.
There is an important " do no harm " aspect to MITRE's
digital co-pilot research. When pilots discover a system is
prone to false alarms and cannot be trusted, they simply
turn it off.
MITRE is cautious developing algorithms intended to
prevent rare events. For example, the digital co-pilot won't
warn a pilot he may be about to land on the wrong runway or
a taxiway until the aircraft is a half-mile from the threshold.
This provides plenty of time for a general aviation pilot to
avoid a mistake. ForeFlight, for example, issues a general
not a specific alert to help pilots avert a runway incursion by
not warning that one is possible and rather telling him the
aircraft is approaching the runway environment.
MITRE also has to be careful about pilots whose level of
experience leads to undeserved confidence. A pilot who has
logged some hours may try to turn a high and hot approach
into a successful landing. The pilot may be aware of the
risk and willing to accept it. In a case like this, safety alerts
might only add to the over confidence. q
avionics news * june 2023 61
Avionics News June 2023

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