Towards Safer Commercial Single-pilot Operations with a Pilot-centred Neurophysiological Approach

Abstract

With the potential pilot shortage and economic imperative of cost savings (compelling motivations), Single-Pilot Operations (SPO) are being considered in commercial flights to replace Dual-Pilot Operations (DPO) for next-generation flight operations, bolstered by ever-improving flight management systems (reliable support). However, it is crucial to acknowledge that human factors, such as workload, situation awareness (SA), decision-making, etc., are frequently discussed in aviation safety, which would be magnified in SPO. Current research on SPO lacks thorough investigations and is especially prone to overlook human factors. In this seminar, some insights, considering the pilot, into SPO, will be provided using the neurophysiological approach. The investigation of how a captain’s performance transforms for fixing emergencies when operating from DPO to SPO will be firstly discussed, providing some experimental-based noteworthy insights into commercial SPO measures. After that, understanding of the single pilot’s SA and associated workload, as well as predicting them hierarchically by proposing an online inference model based on image-involved physiological multimodal features. By accomplishing them, it is able to promote the futuristic captain-centred intelligent SPO systems in aviation engineering without compromising safety from a human-centred perspective.

Speaker

Dr Qinbiao Li obtained BEng and MEng degrees from Shandong University in China in 2017 and 2020, respectively, and received his PhD degree from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2024. Dr Li is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has devoted himself to theoretical and computational studies on Human Factors Engineering in aviation, Advanced Neuro-Ergonomics Cognitive Modelling, ‘Human-Centred’ Intelligent Transportation Systems, Brain-Computer Interaction, neural networks, and AI-driven applications. Dr Li has (co-)authored papers in SCI-indexed journals, including Reliability Engineering and System Safety (RESS), Advanced Engineering Informatics (ADVEI), Knowledge-based Systems (KBS), COJA, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (IJHCS), among others. He also serves as a Co-I for an Smart Traffic Fund (STF) project and a reviewer for IJHCI, ADVEI, International Journal of Integrated Engineering (IJIE), and other journals.