Unmanned Aerial System Integration into National Airspace System and Airports: Risk Mitigation using Content Analysis Methodology
Abstract
Over the last few years, the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has
significantly increased. With an increase in the use of UASs, the number of
UAS sightings near manned aircraft and airports have also increased, as shown
by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)(FAA, 2019a). Although not
every near sighting had a severe consequence associated with it, the risks were
still present. As UASs are becoming more readily available to the general
public, the risks present due to UASs flying in the National Airspace System
(NAS) and near airports is also increasing. For the study, incident and accident
reports were obtained from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
and the Aviation Safety Report System (ASRS) databases. After the reports
were downloaded, reports that did not have information regarding UASs were
discarded. Two instrument forms were developed, one for NTSB reports and
one for ASRS reports. Next, qualitative content analysis was used to identify
the most frequently occurring Human Factors Analysis and Classification
System (HFACS) of the contributing factors and probable cause(s) of the
reported incident or accident. After the HFACS categories were identified for
the NTSB and ASRS reports, all the incidents that had a similar chain of events
were grouped for representation in the Bow-tieXP software. After the analysis, a total of seven bow-tie diagrams were created with each representing the
identified event identified from the content analysis. The bow-tie diagrams
helped identify the threats that could lead to the occurrence of the top event. If
the top event occurred, the consequences arising from them were documented.
The bow-tie diagram also helped identify barriers that could be used so that the
risks associated with each threat and consequence were mitigated. After the
bow-tie diagrams were completed, recommendations were made for safe
operations of UASs in the NAS and airports.