Conceptual Design and Evaluation of Upset-Recovery Systems for Civil Transport Aircraft

Abstract

NLR is a leading international research centre for aerospace. Bolstered by its multidisciplinary expertise and unrivalled research facilities, NLR provides innovative and integral solutions for the complex challenges in the aerospace sector. For more information visit: www.nlr.nl NLR's activities span the full spectrum of Research Development Test & Evaluation (RDT & E). Given NLR's specialist knowledge and facilities, companies turn to NLR for validation, verification, qualification, simulation and evaluation. NLR thereby bridges the gap between research and practical applications, while working for both government and industry at home and abroad. NLR stands for practical and innovative solutions, technical expertise and a long-term design vision. This allows NLR's cutting edge technology to find its way into successful aerospace programs of OEMs, including Airbus, Embraer and Pilatus. NLR contributes to (military) programs, such as ESA's IXV re-entry vehicle, the F-35, the Apache helicopter, and European programs, including SESAR and Clean Sky 2.Founded in 1919, and employing some 650 people, NLR achieved a turnover of 71 million euros in 2016, of which three-quarters derived from contract research, and the remaining from government funds. UNCLASSIFIED EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Problem areaLoss of control in-flight (LOC-I) accidents, caused by an upset followed by a failure of the pilot to control and recover the aircraft, remain the largest contribution to fatal aircraft accidents worldwide. A reduction of crew stress (e.g., caused by an unexpected event in a safety critical situation) and high workload will contribute to further reduction of LOC-I related incidents. Modern civil transport aircraft are currently equipped with a flight guidance system that allows the aircraft to be flown automatically for most part of the flight. Future requirements from a flightdeck system-safety point of view include a more integrated design of information systems available to the pilot, including displays and interactions, flight decision support systems (e.g., advisories during upset conditions, including automatic recovery), and the allocation of functions between the pilot and automatic systems during nominal and degraded flight conditions. This new "intelligent" flight deck should be able to sense onboard (flight control) system and environment-induced hazards in real time, and provide the necessary and timely actions to prevent or recover from an upset. KNOWLEDGE AREA(S) Safety Cockpit Training, Mission Simulation and Operator Performace Aircraft Systems Engineering DESCRIPTOR(S) CockpitUpset recovery Autoflight systems UNCLASSIFIED EXECUTIVE SUMMARY NLR Anthony Fokkerweg 2 1059 CM Amsterdam p ) +31 88 511 3113 f ) +31 88 511 3210 e ) info@nlr.nl i ) www.nlr.nlautomation to relieve crew workload and stress under peak operational conditions.The system is designed to recover the aircraft from upsets that bring the aircraft beyond the conventional flight-envelope-protection boundaries that provide a first layer of safety to preven...

Pilot Behavior Recognition Based on Multi-Modality Fusion Technology Using Physiological Characteristics

“…With the continuous development of autopilot systems and flight assistance systems, pilot performance and air safety have been improved significantly. For example, the DLR project ALLFlight provides pilot assistance during all phases of flight [ 1 ] and includes an automatic aircraft upset-recovery system (AURS) that supports the pilot in recovering from any upset in a manner that is both manually assisted and automatic [ 2 ] and an assisting flight control system (FCS) that can simplify piloting, reduce pilot workload, and improve the system’s reliability [ 3 ]. Owing to these developments, the main task of the pilot has changed from controlling the aircraft to supervising the autopilot system and making critical decisions [ 4 ].…”