Federal Aviation Administration

Research, Engineering and Development Advisory Committee (REDAC)

Emerging Issues and Future Opportunities Strategic Task 2014

Subcommittee Reports

The REDAC Executive Director, Dennis L. Filler, asked the members to use their expertise and 

knowledge of the industry to provide advice that will enable the FAA to develop a research and 

development (R&D) portfolio that is strategic, responsive, and will address future R&D needs of 

the FAA.

At the October 9 REDAC meeting, each Subcommittee chair provided a report reflecting the 

extensive discussions conducted during the August and September Subcommittee meetings, as 

follows.

Subcommittee on NAS Operations

Research Issues that the FAA should “get ahead of”

Emerging Issue: Integration of UAS into the NAS

There has been an unprecedented demand by the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) community 

for access to the National Airspace System (NAS). While the FAA has devoted significant effort 

to this issue over the past few years, it is clearly not ahead of it. Small UAS operations represent 

the majority of the user community demand in the relatively near term, principally because of 

their low cost of operation and significant economic potential. While some progress has been 

made in the integration of small UAS operating within line-of-sight of the operator, the concepts 

for broader integration of small UAS are not well understood and research is urgently needed to 

define and validate these concepts. This research must be well-focused and oriented to ensure 

that timely solutions can be introduced that are safe, while minimizing impact to current NAS 

operations.

It is clear that in the near term, small UAS will operate in airspace that is largely segregated from 

manned aircraft. However, the demand will likely drive the UAS operational density to levels 

much higher than can be managed using manual air traffic control (ATC) methods, particularly 

as small UAS operations extend beyond operator line-of-sight and become more autonomous. 

The proposed FAA rule for small UAS, while helpful, will satisfy only a fraction of proposed 

small UAS operations. The more general FAA UAS concept of operations specifies IFR 

operation, which is not a good fit for small UAS due to a lack of pilot training to operate IFR, 

difficulty of compliance with IFR visual operations, and the sheer volume of expected 

operations.

NASA is developing new concepts for autonomous airspace operations and there is an 

opportunity for FAA to collaborate with NASA and use the small UAS flight regime as a first 

step toward a more autonomous airspace system (see the associated research opportunity below). 

Because these lower altitude airspace regimes are likely to initially be segregated, they offer an 

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opportunity for the FAA to be more agile in the development and implementation of new 

concepts.

An overall research strategy for UAS is needed that captures the range of operations and 

timeframes for UAS operations. This strategy needs to capture the role of both FAA and other 

organizations (NASA, Department of Defense (DoD), academia, etc.) in solving key challenges 

to safe and efficient UAS operations in the NAS.

Emerging Issue: General Aviation Safety

The Administrator has designated the improvement of General Aviation (GA) safety as one of 

FAA’s top priorities. However, the FAA is not “getting ahead” of this problem. GA accounts 

for 96% of all aviation accidents and 97% of all fatal aviation accidents.1 It has been estimated 

that the average annual cost of GA accidents in the United States is $1.64B.2 While the accident 

rate of Part 135 and corporate aviation has improved over the past decade, the accident rate of 

personal aircraft has not.

The FAA should focus its GA safety initiative on developing a fundamental understanding the 

underlying sources of the GA safety problem, and based on this understanding, develop and 

validate the system-level approach most likely to produce a significant impact on GA safety. To 

the extent that improved access to information is a factor in GA decision-making, the 

subcommittee notes that there are many new sources of information and decision support 

applications available to GA pilots. While there appears to be some penetration of these 

applications into modern GA cockpits, it will be important for the FAA’s research to determine 

why they have not yet had a significant impact on overall GA safety statistics.

Emerging Issue: Data Integrity

There has been an exponential growth in the volume of data associated with aviation operations. 

This data is generated, processed, and stored in highly distributed systems which include air 

traffic management automation, airline automation, aircraft avionics, and a variety of 

commercial vendors. These distributed systems are interconnected via a variety of air and 

ground networks. Ensuring the integrity of this diverse data set from unintentional errors, 

accidental corruption, and deliberate spoofing is important to ensure the reliability of aviation 

operations. At the same this data represents a significant resource to the broader R&D and 

operational community and the data must be made available to the maximum extent possible 

while maintaining appropriate levels of privacy and security. The FAA must “get ahead” of this 

issue by establishing appropriate policies for data collection, processing, storage, protection, and 

dissemination that keep pace with the exponential growth of data generation and increasing 

demand for the data to support operations, research, and development. A clear approach for 

developing and implementing robust cyber-security practices, in particular, is needed to address 

1 National Transportation Safety Board Review of US Civil Aviation Accidents (NTSB/ARA-12/01) October 2012. 2 Sobieralski, J.B., The Cost of General Aviation Accidents in the United States, Transportation Research Part A: 

Policy and Practice, Volume 47, January (2013).

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the increasing threats to US systems. These policies must appropriately balance the cost of 

collection and maintenance of the data with its utility to the broader aviation community.

Emerging Issue: Verification and Validation of Complex NAS Systems

The NAS is a very complex system as are the current and future systems that manage it. We 

require that these complex systems be extremely reliable and that they deliver their promised 

benefits. The Verification and Validation (V&V) of future NAS systems is an issue that will 

pace the FAA’s NAS modernization progress and therefore the FAA should “get ahead” of it. In 

anticipation of the implementation of increasing levels of autonomy and system complexity in 

NAS operations, FAA should focus on developing V&V techniques that handle both 

deterministic and non-deterministic system behavior (see related research opportunity below). 

The FAA should leverage research in other government agencies and V&V activities in other 

industries, particularly where there are likely to be overlaps in the physical and cyber-security 

components of the V&V process. This research should include not only the techniques for 

V&V; it should also address ways to introduce change into current institutional processes. 

Significant innovation is occurring in sectors that are not traditionally aviation-focused; there is a 

need to balance the disruptive approaches from “innovation” culture versus the traditional 

aviation safety culture. Software integrity and robustness is not only a concern for the end of a 

capability lifecycle. In addition to performing research specifically targeted to V&V techniques, 

the FAA should ensure that its research projects to develop new NAS capabilities address any 

unique V&V requirements for the new capability early in its development. Further, this research 

should be integrated into a broader evaluation of NAS robustness, addressing the various ways 

that efficient NAS operations can be disrupted.

Research Opportunities for the FAA

Research Opportunity: Increasingly Autonomous Systems in the NAS

This research opportunity is articulately summarized in the following excerpt from a National 

Research Council report3:

“The development and application of increasingly autonomous (IA) systems for civil 

aviation is proceeding at an accelerating pace, driven by the expectation that such 

systems will return significant benefits in terms of safety, reliability, efficiency, 

affordability, and/or previously unattainable mission capabilities. IA systems range 

from current automatic systems such as autopilots and remotely piloted unmanned 

aircraft to more highly sophisticated systems that are needed to enable a fully 

autonomous aircraft that does not require a pilot or human air traffic controllers. These 

systems, characterized by their ability to perform more complex mission-related tasks 

with substantially less human intervention for more extended periods of time, sometimes 

3 National Research Council. “Autonomy Research for Civil Aviation: Toward a New Era of Flight.” Washington, 

DC: The National Academies Press, 2014.

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at remote distances, are being envisioned for aircraft and for air traffic management and 

other ground-based elements of the national airspace system. Civil aviation is on the 

threshold of potentially revolutionary improvements in aviation capabilities and 

operations associated with IA systems. These systems, however, face substantial 

barriers to integration into the national airspace system without degrading its safety or 

efficiency.”

Increasingly autonomous systems have the potential to significantly improve NAS safety and 

performance, particularly as applied to the planning, negotiation, and real-time monitoring of 

aircraft trajectories that satisfy user preferences in the presence of dynamic and stochastic 

airspace constraints. However, significant research and development is required to achieve these 

benefits.

While the FAA has the opportunity to leverage autonomy research at NASA and in the 

commercial world there is a need for a focused FAA effort to ensure that these sophisticated nondeterministic and adaptive software systems can be trusted and remain resilient in the NAS. 

There is a need to adapt current certification mechanisms and policies to ensure that they scale to 

the complexity of evolving automation technologies. The FAA research should address 

revisions to certification processes as well as new techniques for verification, validation, test and 

evaluation that can generate the data necessary for a safety determination. It should also address 

the new software and system architectures that ensure that increasingly autonomous operations 

have the level of robustness necessary for NAS operations.

Research Opportunity: Big Data/Measuring the NAS

As described in its Strategic Plan, the FAA is committed to a consistent, data-driven approach 

when making system-level decisions. Given the complexity of the NAS and the exponential 

growth of data available (see related issue above), there is a need for a systematic approach to the 

collection and analysis of NAS performance data. There are many measures of NAS 

performance – some of them reflect the satisfaction of user demand and others reflect more 

technical aspects of system performance that enable optimization and problem diagnosis. The 

FAA should leverage industry and research community “big data” practices to guide its research 

on the collection and analysis of NAS data in order to inform its decision-making. Related to 

this is the challenge of defining new data sources, especially with the introduction of new 

entrants such as UAS or commercial space. This research opportunity is related to, but distinct 

from the data integrity issue described above in that the research here would be focused on the 

algorithms used to organize and analyze the data and the means to present that analysis to 

support decision making.

Aviation supplies excellent data for measuring system performance, compared to other modes of 

transportation, but aviation performance measurement lags other modes. Now that delay is 

coming to be understood as a feature of a healthy transportation network, it is time to research 

additional measures for evaluating the impact of real-time decisions. Large-scale 

transformations of the NAS need large-scale measures of performance. Research is needed to 

understand the NAS in its proper context: supplying high-price, high-value connections to parts 

of the economy that could not function at longer time scales.

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Research Opportunity: Modeling and Simulation

Modeling and Simulation (M&S) are the principal tools that enable the FAA and the broader 

aviation community to understand how the NAS could operate in the future. A robust M&S 

capability allows researchers to design and test new concepts early in the development cycle, 

before proceeding to more costly field trials. Both fast time and human-in-the-loop simulations 

enable new concept validation and risk reduction that is essential to successful transition to 

operations. While it is important to perform M&S studies at an appropriate level of fidelity to 

ensure the validity of results, in general, the M&S capability can be matched to the specific 

research and development question being answered, thus reducing development cost.

The subcommittee has observed that the FAA has recently significantly scaled back its M&S 

efforts for operational concept validation. While this may be due to funding limitations, the 

subcommittee is concerned that a de-emphasis on M&S will simply pass on risk to the 

deployment phase of new capabilities, resulting in implementation delays and further funding 

shortfalls. FAA should invest in and utilize M&S to the maximum extent possible when 

exploring new concepts and continue its use of M&S throughout the development cycle. As part 

of this investment, FAA needs to ensure that M&S tools incorporate new entrants to the NAS 

such as the wide range of UAS operations and performance , commercial space operators, and 

other emerging users. The FAA should maintain a portfolio of simulation capabilities for 

concept development and risk reduction. The portfolio should be made broadly available to the 

FAA research community along with guidelines for its use. This will help ensure that results are 

equally valid across the research domains. Because there will be a continuing need for high 

fidelity, distributed, human-in-the-loop simulation that reflects the operational diversity of the 

future NAS, and because these large scale simulations are expensive to develop, the FAA should 

leverage the significant investment that DoD has made in live virtual simulation technology.

Subcommittee on Aircraft Safety

Emerging Issue: Real-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance

Why this issue is important. Commercial aviation is the safest mode of transportation. This 

enviable record is the result of decades of continuous improvement in reaction to known hazards, 

incidents, and accidents. As aviation exploits technology advances to enhance the capacity, 

efficiency, and uses of the National Airspace System (NAS), it will be vital to recognize and 

quickly mitigate emerging safety issues in real time before they become hazards.

The focus of this strategic research effort is to enable development of a real-time, system-wide 

safety assurance system. The ongoing advances in sensor and networking technology, 

computation, communications, and integration can be combined with advanced data analytics to 

accelerate access and protection of sensitive data. This will enable discovery, alerting, and 

mitigation of anomalous events at a progressively more rapid pace, and will enable 

unprecedented insight into system operations, health, and safety. An additional component of 

this future real-time information system will be the integrated monitoring of the human operator 

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state, providing human performance data to the automated system. These advances applied 

broadly within the aviation system and combined with system-of-systems modeling and 

prognostics, offer a new vision of real-time, system-wide safety assurance. Strategic research in 

this area will deliver a progression of capabilities that accelerate the detection, prognosis, and 

resolution of systemwide threats.

Research Needs. Continued development of advanced safety analysis and assurance tools such 

as data mining and analysis, automated prognostics, and safety risk modeling will substantially 

improve the ability to gain insights and develop mitigations from the growing amount of 

available aviation system data. These developments will dramatically improve safety assurance 

by reducing the time to analyze, identify, and mitigate safety risks.

Research is needed to enable the integration of advanced tools into a more highly automated 

safety assurance system that will enable continuous systemwide safety assessment. This advance 

can lead to rapid identification of safety issues and corrective actions before the issues become 

hazards. Such an automated system will evolve to be near-real-time as confidence increases in 

continuously validated system judgments. Biomedical research is also needed to develop the 

psychological and physiological measures from the human operator that will inform the 

automation system.

As the automated safety assurance system becomes integrated with real-time operations to help 

create an aviation system that exhibits the autonomic properties of self-protection and selfhealing. In this future, research to determine how human operators and autonomous systems will 

collaborate to ensure an optimal mix of actions – from immediate operational adjustments to farterm system and infrastructure changes – will minimize safety risks.

Emerging Issue: Dependability of Increasingly Complex Systems

As we move towards increasingly complex system-of-system architectures in aviation which 

consist of both airborne and ground-based interconnected components, the following issues 

becoming increasingly important as we pursue an enterprise systems engineering approach:

Software, Automation and Autonomy

Why this issue is important. Software for onboard systems is increasing in complexity, 

sophistication, and size as previously independent mechanical, pneumatic, and hydraulic 

functions are replaced by highly integrated electrics and electronics. Advances in computer 

processing, sensors, networking, and other technologies are also enabling the aviation system to 

continue to augment the human decision-makers with sophisticated automation both on-board 

the aircraft and in ground systems including air traffic control. Within the foreseeable future we 

expect humans will maintain the role as the final authority for safe operations.

As technology evolves, these automation systems will become increasingly interconnected and 

increasingly move towards autonomy where the machine is intelligent, perceiving, deciding, 

learning, and acting, often without human direct engagement. Such advanced automation 

systems also integrate the real-time human operator state, which will help inform the level of 

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automation implemented by the system. Ensuring that these sophisticated, adaptive, 

interconnected, and non-deterministic automation systems remain resilient to a range of expected 

and unanticipated circumstances, and environments, is a concern.

Research Needs. Our current mechanisms and policies for oversight and certification of these 

systems to ensure they operate robustly in safety-critical situations are not keeping pace with 

technology advancements. These software-intensive automation systems must be resilient to 

design defects, missing or corrupt data, and deliberate attacks. Revisions to certification 

processes as well as new analytical techniques for verification, validation, test, and evaluation 

that can generate the data necessary for a safety determination are required.

Analytical Means of Compliance (MoCs) for software are also necessary. Fundamental research 

is needed to develop methodologies, frameworks, and algorithms enabling streamlined software 

architectures, testability, and certifiability.

Research and development will be needed to ensure that automation on the flight deck and other 

safety critical applications is designed and implemented in a way to complement the strengths 

and weaknesses of the human operator. Biomedical research is also needed to develop the 

psychological and physiological measures from the human that will inform the automation 

system.

Data Integrity

Why this issue is important. There has been an exponential growth in the volume and 

distribution of electronic data associated with real-time operations. There is also increased 

advocacy for more frequent — or continuous — inflight aircraft-to-ground communication. 

Safety and operational value of expanded uses for engine and aircraft health monitoring systems 

are growing. Such ubiquitous data communication and sharing can provide safety and 

operational benefits - depending on available bandwidth and cost. These systems of systems 

typically use a mix of certified and uncertified automation and data distribution systems. As an 

example, aircraft and engine data which is governed by various certification requirements may 

be delivered to the ground and processed by several largely uncertified systems using 

Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) software and hardware. The FAA has does not have an 

efficient method to evaluate COTS hardware and software that is available today.

Research Needs. Ensuring the integrity of this diverse data set from unintentional errors, 

accidental corruption, and deliberate spoofing is important to ensure the reliability of aviation 

operations.

Consideration of the regulations and Means of Compliance (MOCs) for use of COTS software 

and hardware in airborne and ground-based applications for safety-significant functions is 

required.

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Updated Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) and Means of Compliance

Why this issue is important. The pace of innovation has accelerated with the advent of new 

architectures and the expanded use of structural composites and advanced metallics, among other 

factors. Aspects of existing engine and aircraft FARs were developed long ago and should be 

examined for modernization in light of the latest design, development, and testing technologies. 

Some prescriptive certification MoCs may no longer be producing the desired result when 

applied, for example, to current high and ultra-high bypass engines.

Sophisticated high-fidelity subsystem tests are increasingly employed by original equipment 

manufacturers (OEMs) in early development to reduce risks in full-up engine or aircraft testing. 

In some cases these subsystems enable testing that cannot be reliably or repeatedly performed in 

an engine ground test or in flight.

As aircraft systems inevitably become more integrated in the drive for improved safety and 

efficiency, the lines between engine and aircraft certification responsibility become blurred, and, 

even today, substantial overlap exists. This can create duplicative work or lead to unacceptable 

gaps. Examples include, but are not limited to, electronic integration and pneumatic systems 

integration. Current and future large transport aircraft don’t, and won’t, split neatly down FAR 

33/FAR 25 lines.

Research Needs. Research should begin to ensure a proactive framework for timely and flexible 

requirements and that means of compliance are in place to handle near-term engine and aircraft 

architectural advancements without undue burden. Research into validation technologies should 

be conducted, and approved methods for use of all adequate techniques and technologies as 

acceptable MoCs should be developed.

Emerging Issue: Certification of Advanced Materials and Structural Technologies

Why this issue is important. As aircraft and engine designs drive towards advanced 

performance, new material systems and structural concepts will continue to be introduced that 

are significantly different from the current ways of designing, building, and maintaining 

airframes and engines. The FAA needs to stay abreast of these changes to make certification 

decisions and build its knowledge to support regulations, standards, guidance materials, and 

training that maintain safety.

Other changes are developing will begin to accelerate in the future, such as use of additive 

manufacturing. Given that this is an emerging technology, issues of standardization, variation in 

process, resulting properties, and uncertainties in failure modes need to be understood.

Research Needs. The FAA needs to focus on technical methods to stay abreast of these changes 

to make performance-based certification decisions and evolve processes and inspection 

techniques to support regulations, standards, guidance materials, and training that maintain 

safety. An example of this is non-destructive inspection where these new materials and 

structures are used. For many existing material systems and structural designs, the traditional 

inspection processes fall short of being reliably able to catch flaws, thus driving the need for 

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more modeling and analysis. Research also needs to focus on the application of computational 

material methods to streamline the certification process.

Emerging Issue: High-Density Energy Storage, Management, and Use

Why this issue is important. Aircraft manufacturers are always trying to optimize performance 

while decreasing operating and maintenance costs, and reducing environmental impacts. This 

optimization has pushed the aircraft industry to break away from traditional systems and install 

more efficient electrical powered systems onboard their aircraft.

The general trend in aircraft manufacturing has been a steady increase of electrical components 

and more integrated systems and avionics (i.e., “The More Electric Aircraft”). Future aircraft 

will continue to expand the use of electrical energy technologies and capabilities. This requires 

the development and application of new high energy density storage, management and 

distribution technologies and systems which can present new potential hazards to aircraft and 

operations.

Research Needs. Research is needed to understand and assess the characteristics of various high 

energy generation, and storage technologies with applications that are expected to increase in 

aviation products. The research should provide data for the appropriate standards and safeguards 

for the design, implementation, certification, maintenance and operation of these new systems, 

with emphasis on developing safe power technology, to ensure the successful use.

Future Opportunity: Commercial Space Integration with the National Airspace System

Why this issue is important. Commercial space activities continue to expand worldwide with a 

growing industry based in the US. Commercial Space Vehicle Operations (SVO) include both 

human and cargo space flight missions. The FAA has the responsibility to license spaceports 

and space vehicle operations, including commercial space transportation operations conducted 

under Government contract (e.g., NASA commercial crew program, DoD payloads). The 

current mechanisms for ensuring the safety of legacy NAS users mainly focus on setting up 

restricted areas to enable launch and recovery during space vehicle operations. These 

mechanisms will not likely scale to the operational tempo anticipated by the industry. The 

FAA's efforts to provide guidelines to this emerging industry have focused on protecting SVO 

occupants (i.e., crew and passengers) and not necessarily on public safety (i.e., other aircraft or 

persons and property on the ground) or on minimizing the operational disruption of commercial 

launches.

Research Needs. Continued research is needed in establishing the necessary guidelines, 

operational procedures, policies, and potential regulations necessary to both protect the safety of 

SVO participants, the public, and other aviation operations, and maintain operational efficiency 

of the NAS. Increased research emphasis is recommended in the areas of medical certification 

standards for passengers and crew of commercial SVO, as well as standards for cabin safety and 

emergency procedures/egress/survival.

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Future Opportunity: General Aviation’s Role in Safety Systems Development

Why this issue is important. The sub-committee supports R&D initiatives in the portfolio that 

target improvements in GA. GA is an important part of the US air transportation system and a 

pipeline for highly qualified pilots and mechanics that are vital to the continued safe growth of 

aviation. In addition, GA serves as a unique incubator for the validation of safety equipment and 

interventions and it offers opportunity for safety systems development in a timely and 

streamlined manner.

Research Needs. A strategic R&D program is needed to evaluate safety enhancements through 

the application of technologies, taking advantage of the safety opportunities in GA, that improve 

situational awareness, aircraft operational protections, automation, and autonomy that make it 

safer and easier to fly in the NAS.

The objective of this R&D initiative is to coordinate with other R&D initiatives and identify 

safety applications within GA aircraft using safety-risk continuum principles to ensure an 

appropriate level of rigor to enable these safety-enhancing technologies to be rapidly installed in 

both retrofit and new applications.

Future Opportunity: Identification and Funding of Strategic Research and Development

Why this issue is important. Today’s Research, Engineering and Development (RE&D) 

identification and prioritization process is not suited to ensure adequate focus on – and allocation 

for – long-term, emerging needs. The current environment is dominated by known, near-term 

needs and by reacting to previously unforeseen activities. This severely limits FAA’s ability to 

set aside resources for long-term RE&D. To be successful in the long run, and leverage the 

resources available today while meeting the FAA’s stated strategic goals, the process to identify 

and prioritize RE&D needs must be rooted in a broad aerospace community view of the FAA’s 

statutory mandate to promote safety. Looking at today’s extremely safe aviation industry, many 

stakeholders agree that the way to maintain, and certainly to improve, requires a cross-cutting, 

multi-disciplinary approach to addressing the remaining known and emerging new safety risks.

Research Needs. In this vein, the subcommittee recommends FAA conduct the research needed 

to support the development of a sustainable process to enable:

• The identification of long-term (strategic) R&D needs using risk-based, data-driven 

principles at the aerospace system level.

• Further, the FAA needs a funding approach – including setting aside funds – that will 

protect the critical elements of long-term R&D needs

Future Opportunity: Effects of Breakthrough Medical Technologies on FAA Medical

Certification Standards

Why this issue is important. Medical science is advancing at an unprecedented rate, as the 

genetic basis for many diseases is deciphered, novel drug therapies are approved, and 

revolutionary surgical procedures and medical devices are proven effective. The aviation 

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community deserves the fullest possible benefit from these medical advances. Diseases that have 

traditionally ended aviation careers may someday be able to be waived; while certain medicallyindicated treatments may present unrecognized risks to aviation safety. It is therefore essential 

that the FAA be aware of the important advances in medical and surgical therapeutics, so that 

any potential effect on flight safety and aeromedical standards is investigated, and possible 

changes to medical certification standards enacted.

Research needs. The FAA should support an aerospace medicine program to examine the effects 

of emerging medical technologies (e.g., practices, pharmaceuticals, devices) on the clinical 

health and occupational safety of aviation personnel. This program should include surveillance 

of medical research and practice developments in the United States, examination of the existing 

FAA medical standards in view of these developments, and research to determine the effects of 

these developments on aircrew performance, safety, and aeromedical certification.

Subcommittee on Human Factors

Emerging Issue: System Information Management

Increasing information management demands for pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and traffic 

managers will create human factors risks and vulnerabilities such as higher workload, 

distractions, longer task times, and errors.

Rationale: A variety of circumstances are converging to create, or exacerbate, human factors 

issues related to information management in NextGen and beyond. There are increases in the 

amount, diversity, and complexity of information that users must manage because of a 

proliferation of new information systems. In many cases, new systems and functions are 

introduced into existing flight decks and controller workstations where the new systems could 

conflict with the philosophy, information flow, and scan pattern of the flight deck or workstation 

to which they are added. Greater data communication bandwidth, more distributed systems, and 

greater processing power on the aircraft, on the ground, and in the cloud can produce even more 

information (e.g., big data analytics). At the same time, there is more variability in the quality of 

information that systems produce because pilots and controllers are utilizing a mix of certified, 

operationally approved, and uncertified/unapproved systems. Further, information requirements 

and information sharing requirements are changing as more collaboration is occurring, not only 

between pilots, controllers, and dispatchers, but between human and automated systems. All this 

is happening while human ability to process and manage information remains constant, or 

changes in unexpected and subtle ways as the user population demographics change (e.g., as 

potential generational and cultural differences become more important). The PARC/CAST 

Flight Deck Automation Working Group report on Operational Use of Flight Path Management 

Systems provided a recommendation related to information automation and discussed the 

information management issues described above.

As the demand for users to process and manage information increases, if too much information is 

provided, if too much human information processing is required to access, filter, understand, 

interpret, and integrate relevant information, if it is difficult to monitor and verify the quality of 

information and the integrity of raw data, or if the appropriate information is not shared among 

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collaborators in the same form in a timely fashion, a variety of human factors issues can result. 

Users will over-trust automated systems because they do not have the capacity to interpret and 

verify outputs. Performing information management tasks such as organizing, filtering, and 

prioritizing information will distract from more important tasks. Collaboration will break down 

because collaborators do not have the same information or do not interpret the information 

similarly because it is in different forms or formats. Primary tasks will take longer because 

additional information management tasks are overhead tasks that add task time, but not direct 

value. The primary tasks for flight crews include aviate, navigate, and communicate; maintain 

separation, provide expeditious traffic flow, and provide services to users encompass the primary 

tasks for controllers. If this research priority is not addressed, the significant changes in the 

information environment related to NextGen and beyond will increase existing human 

performance issues and introduce new ones that could reduce safety and efficiency.

Way Forward:

1. Near Term – Identify the appropriate guidance materials for use of information 

automation and management in order to mitigate the risks in current and near-term 

operations described above. In addition, information requirements for human agents in 

the overall system for various NextGen scenarios and operations need to be analyzed so 

that the value of each new information system can be assessed. This needs to include 

analysis of collaborative tasks and the requirements for shared information. The use of a 

framework such as the control structure could be very valuable in this activity. It would 

also be valuable to identify how and why various information systems, such as PED 

applications, are being used today. This might provide insights in terms of risk-benefit 

analyses.

2. Far Term – Information management needs to be assessed at a system-of-systems level. 

Further research on the human performance envelope, in terms of the capacity to process 

and manage information, is needed. This will address not just capacity in terms of 

quantity of information that can be managed, but also how diversity, quality, and 

complexity of information impact that capacity. The ability to train information 

management skills must be assessed. For example, information management, distraction, 

performing information triage, collaborative decision making, etc., could be good 

candidates for CRM training. Procedures for use of mixed information systems 

(certified, operationally approved, and uncertified/unapproved) need to be explored.

Emerging Issue: Automation/Autonomy Roles and Responsibilities

Understanding the appropriate roles, responsibilities, and authority between humans and 

automated systems to both enable optimal design of NextGen as well as adequately certify more 

automated aircraft systems and flight decks.

Rationale:

1. As identified in the Performance-Based Aviation Rulemaking Committee 

(PARC)/Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) Flight Deck Automation Working 

Group report on Operational Use of Flight Path Management Systems, the use of 

automation, while having demonstrated benefits in the aviation system, continues to also 

have negative consequences on safety and to some extent efficiency of the system.

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2. The development and application of increasingly autonomous systems for civil aviation is 

proceeding at an accelerating pace, driven by the expectation that such systems will 

return significant benefits in terms of safety, reliability, efficiency, affordability, and/or 

previously unattainable mission capabilities (National Research Council. “Autonomy 

Research for Civil Aviation: Toward a New Era of Flight”. Washington, DC: The 

National Academies Press, 2014).

3. Hence, there is an urgent need to address the negative consequences that automation 

brings to the table and either eliminate the risks or mitigate them.

4. Following are identified gaps that need to be closed in this area:

a) Gap 1 - Methodologies to effectively design human-automation systems and 

automation. Automation will introduce new safety risks and vulnerabilities into the 

system. Effective tools and processes need to be developed to both reduce risks 

through adequate system design and potential risks need to be identified proactively 

so that they can be eliminated or mitigated.

b) Gap 2 - Automation can increase the risk of humans not being able to handle 

situations where the automation fails and the automation often cannot handle 

situations where the humans have made mistakes. Hence a more resilient and robust 

system design is needed. There is a gap however in practical methods of ensuring 

resiliency within the NextGen design.

c) Gap 3 – The appropriate functional allocation of tasks within the human-automation 

system is key to creating both a safe and efficient system. There is a known gap in 

the ability of system designers of NextGen to appropriately allocate functions among 

components of the human-automated system design due to a lack of adequate tools, 

methods and practical research in this area.

d) Gap 4 – There is a need for effective and efficient methodologies used to certify 

automated systems to ensure that they are safe, including the assessment of resiliency 

and robustness needed in more automated systems. If unfilled, this gap results in 

increased safety risk due to the possible implementation of unsafe automation into 

vehicles. Unfilled it also brings the risk of not being able to certify automated 

systems that could introduce enhanced safety and/or efficiencies into the system.

e) Gap 5 - Intelligent and non-deterministic automated and autonomous systems 

technology is on the horizon and there are gaps in understanding both how to 

appropriately apply this technology as well as certify it.

f) Gap 6 – As more automated systems have entered the aviation system, a risk to safety 

has been identified with respect to human trust in automated systems. This has 

resulted in the inappropriate over- reliance on automation causing safety 

vulnerabilities. On the other side, mistrust of the automation results in the inefficient 

use of the automated capability. There is a gap in the methodologies needed to 

address the appropriate level of trust for automation as Next Gen is implemented as 

well as in the ability to appropriately assess automation and pilot trust from a 

certification perspective.

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Payoff:

1. A commercial aviation system that can employ automation effectively to enhance system 

performance while also enhancing safety

2. A more efficient and effective certification approval for more automated aircraft systems 

that ensures enhanced safety in a cost effective manner

Way Forward:

1. A multi-faceted research program into human-automation system design and 

certification.

2. Components of this program include:

a) Developing a framework for the incorporation of automation within complex systems

b) Developing a tool suite and methodologies for the appropriate functional allocation 

within the human-automation system

c) Develop tools and methods for conducting predictive safety analysis of more 

automated systems

d) Conduct research to identify the many ways in which human intervention has saved 

the day when systems fail or unforeseen events occur

e) Develop better cognitive modeling in order to understand the impacts of automation 

during early stages of the design

f) Develop best practices, tools and methodologies to effectively and efficient certify 

more automated systems

g) Develop practical ways of ensuring resiliency in the aviation system as well as 

effective methodologies for assessing the resiliency of systems in support of 

certification approval for more automated systems

h) Research methods for ensuring appropriate levels of trust of automated systems as 

well as to assess safety risks in automated systems for certification approval.

3. While research required to adequately address automation is necessary, ways to employ 

the research products effectively within the AMS process for ATO components needs to 

be developed and implemented

Emerging Issue: Integration of UAS/RPAS into the NAS

There has been an unprecedented demand by the UAS/Remotely piloted Aircraft Systems 

(RPAS) community for access to the NAS. Demand will likely drive the UAS operational 

density to levels much higher than can be managed using manual ATC methods, particularly as 

small UAS operations extend beyond operator line-of-sight and become more autonomous.

Rationale: While the FAA has devoted significant effort to this issue over the past few years, it 

is clearly not ahead of it. The small UAS/RPAS operations represent the majority of the user 

community demand in the relatively near term, principally because of their low cost of operation 

and significant economic potential. While some progress has been made in the integration of 

small UAS/RPAS operating within line-of-sight of the operator, the concepts for broader 

integration of small UAS are not well understood and research is urgently needed to define and 

14
validate these concepts. This research must be well-focused and oriented to ensure that timely 

solutions can be introduced that are safe, while minimizing impact to current NAS operations.

It is clear that in the near term, small UAS/RPAS will operate in airspace that is largely 

segregated from manned aircraft. However, the demand will likely drive the UAS/RPAS 

operational density to levels much higher than can be managed using manual ATC methods, 

particularly as small UAS/RPAS operations extend beyond operator line-of-sight and become 

more autonomous. The proposed FAA rule for small UAS/RPAS, while helpful, will satisfy 

only a fraction of proposed small UAS/RPAS operations. The more general FAA UAS/RPAS 

concept of operations specifies instrumented flight rules (IFR) operation, which is not a good fit 

for small UAS/RPAS due to a lack of pilot training to operate IFR, difficulty of compliance with 

IFR visual operations, and the sheer volume of expected operations.

NASA and DoD are developing new concepts for autonomous airspace operations and there is an 

opportunity for FAA to collaborate with NASA/DoD and use the small UAS flight regime as a 

first step toward a more autonomous airspace system. Because these lower altitude airspace 

regimes are likely to initially be segregated, they offer an opportunity for the FAA to be more 

agile in the development and implementation of new concepts.

This new complex addition to the airspace will have a significant human factors impact on the 

overall system as well with each of the operators (pilots, air traffic control, etc.), which will 

require more attention to operator selection, training, and proficiency.

The new airspace environment will require regulations, which follow a paradigm of human 

capable of direct manual control when required RPAS control stations become more highly 

automated with supervisory control methods and future, intelligent, non-deterministic remotely 

piloted system technology on the horizon.

An overall research strategy for RPAS human factors research is needed that captures the range 

of operations and timeframes for all RPAS operations. This strategy needs to capture the role of 

both the FAA and other organizations (NASA, DoD, academia, etc.) in solving key challenges to 

safe and efficient RPAS operations in the NAS.

Way Forward:

1. Develop RPAS Research Plan with coordination/leverage of NASA/DoD and other 

government agencies focusing on sense and avoid, communications, and human system 

technologies and fund research.

2. To support the certification of RPAS remote control stations and RPAS operators:

a. Develop flexible and layered human-automation interface methodologies.

b. Develop research methods for ensuring properly calibrated trust of automated systems.

c. Develop realistic pilot performance models for required constructive simulations to 

prove the safety case.

d. Develop research into effective, fault-tolerant RPAS control station 

designs/architectures, information displays and intuitive control, attention cueing, 

contingency management, and mitigation of control loop degradation.

e. Determine the appropriate skills and knowledge required by RPAS operators to 

support appropriate training requirements.

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3. Develop realistic pilot performance models for required constructive simulations to prove 

the safety case.

Emerging Issue: Dealing with Mixed Equipage Operations in the Design and Evolution of 

the NAS

Operational Concern. There are numerous advances planned under NextGen that are likely to be 

phased in, rather than mandating a change by all of the flight operators at one point in time. The 

result is that the system will have to deal with a mixed equipage or operational environment in a 

safe and efficient manner for some extended period of time.

Rationale: Examples of this issue include the introduction of data communications 

(DataComm) and more precise navigation capabilities (RNAV/RNP and ADS-B Out and In 

equipage) on aircraft. This phased approach has major human factors implications as, until 

everyone (or almost everyone) has transitioned, there is a potential increase in complexity for a 

number of different actors, especially controllers.

In the initial stages of such an evolution, when the majority of the aircraft are still unequipped, a 

strategy is needed that provides sufficient benefit to the equipped aircraft to reward equipage 

while maintaining high efficiency for the majority of the aircraft. In the mid-term, when there 

are large numbers of both equipped and unequipped aircraft, cognitive complexity becomes the 

dominant issue. In the longer term, when all or almost all of the aircraft are equipped, the human 

factors issue is whether equipage or resultant operations are uniform. An example of the latter 

arises if, for instance, most aircraft are DataComm capable, but they use a wide range of message 

sets that differ across flight operators.

The human factors concern is clear: If a controller or some other actor needs to deal with aircraft 

differently based on their equipage, this introduces additional task load and cognitive complexity 

depending on the number of equipment packages which must be considered and the procedural 

differences for each type. If the cognitive complexity or task load is too high the controller will 

have increased risk of errors or will default to the procedures for the lowest equipage level, thus 

negating the benefit of the NextGen improvement.

It is important to understand how these factors impact controllers cognitive complexity to 

determine limits or mixed equipage or procedural strategies to manage the complexity. This 

issue also has implications regarding the demands on training and job responsibilities. Such 

complexities in turn can affect efficiency in the NAS (reductions in capacity in order to safely 

deal with the increased complexities) or safety.

Potential Human Factors Solutions. Depending upon the nature of the new capability, there are a 

number of different classes of solutions that can be investigated. One is to look for design 

solutions that reduce the complexity of operating in a mixed equipage environment without 

losing the desired benefits. A second solution is to consider the implication of human factors 

considerations for policy making. If the human factors issues indicate that there is no effective 

way to maintain efficient operations with mixed equipage, then it may be desirable to mandate a 

16
transition by all aircraft who wish to operate in high demand airspace at some point in time. The 

transition to reduced vertical separation standards was an example of this.

A third possible solution (or partial solution) is to modify the tools and displays used so that it is 

easy to identify and deal with aircraft based on equipage.

Another possible solution is best equipped aircraft get served first by ATC rather than today’s 

first come first served. This could gain significant benefits of NextGen quickly and encourage 

equipage without mandate by others.

Way Forward: For specific types of equipage and associated operational concepts, the potential 

impact of mixed equipage on human and system performance needs to be assessed relative to 

alternative design, procedural and policy solutions. This is necessary to make informed 

decisions about how to approach the introduction of the intended operational improvement.

In addition, for the selected solution, it is necessary to determine the training implications.

High Priority Applications:

1. DataComm

2. ADS-B In Applications(e.g. delegated separation)

3. TBFM (Time Based Flow Management)

4. Navigation (Required Navigation Performance, Area Navigation, and Automatic 

Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast)

a) Approaches

b) Departures

c) Enroute

d) Surface

5. Others?

Emerging Issue: Human Machine Design, Integration, and Certification

Airspace system complexity will increase dramatically given the number and diversity of 

aircraft, aircraft equipage levels, airborne and ground-based capabilities as well as operator 

cultures and proficiencies. Operators in the system, such as controllers and pilots will not be 

able to keep track of and properly manage this complexity.

Rationale: Traditional human/machine design approaches try to allocate specific functions to 

one or the other and generally result in replacing human functions with automated systems. 

However, these approaches have already proven inappropriate because they introduce new risk, 

such as human skill degradation, and often make it impossible for humans to predict or 

understand the automation behavior; this is considered the predominant contributor to 

automation related incidents and accidents. Moreover, highly complex automated systems are 

extremely difficult to develop, maintain and certify. We require that these complex systems be 

extremely reliable and that they deliver their promised benefits. The V&V of future NAS 

systems is an issue that will pace the FAA’s NAS modernization progress and therefore the FAA 

needs to “get ahead” of it. The proliferation of non-certified devices and decision support aids in 

17
cockpits and ATC are already having an impact on aviation operations. The FAA needs to get a 

handle on regulating these devices to allow their effective utilization in a way that does not pose 

a new safety risk. To mitigate the substantial safety risks associated with the new ways that 

humans and machines will interact in NextGen methods for human-machine design, integration, 

V&V, and certification are required. Many of these will have to utilize modeling and simulation, 

the principal tools that enable the FAA and the broader aviation community to understand how 

the NAS could operate in the future. Modeling and simulation significantly reduce the risk of 

costly implementation mistakes, but the effectiveness of human-machine interactions also need 

to be continuously evaluated in operation. This will mitigate operational risks within the existing 

systems and design and integration risks for future systems.

Way Forward: The following research is recommended to help establish a resilient 

human/machine system that can utilize emerging technologies while coping with the anticipated 

complexity:

1. Conduct research on containing the overall complexity of aircraft, equipage, capability, 

training and proficiency levels (for example identify whether clustering the diversity into 

a few designated categories can get the majority of the benefit).

2. Conduct research on developing a process for design, engineering, integration, training 

and procedure development that employs human factors design and analysis methods to:

a) Synergize human and automation capabilities as complimentary components of the 

overall system.

b) Maintain human awareness, expertise and performance with increasingly autonomous 

systems.

c) Assess human and automated system performance envelopes and avoid situations that 

confront humans or automated systems with unmanageable problems.

d) Develop procedures and training that ensure the appropriate use of new functions and 

help achieve the anticipated benefits.

e) Evaluate and quantify operational effectiveness and iterate design, procedures and/or 

training if necessary.

3. Accelerate research into new methods for V&V of complex systems (deterministic and 

non-deterministic) in coordination with other government agencies (NASA, DOD) and in 

other industries, particularly where there are likely to be overlaps in the physical and 

cyber-security components of the V&V process.

4. Invest in and utilize modeling and simulation throughout the development cycle and 

share these capabilities with research partners. The capabilities need to incorporate new 

entrants to the NAS such as the wide range of UAS/RPAS operations and performance, 

commercial space operators, and other emerging users. To reduce overall cost leverage 

the significant investment that DoD has made in live virtual simulation technology as 

well as the capabilities in existence and under development at NASA and other partners 

in the research community.

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5. Re-examine the certification methods and conduct research to determine new criteria for 

certifying emerging technologies and operations and for streamlining the certification 

process. Determine the function allocation between government, regulated services and 

commercial applications, and define minimum performance standards, operational 

boundaries and strict safety and security regulations for commercial systems in aviation 

applications. Research the feasibility of hybrid systems in which the FAA ensures safety, 

security, equitability, etc. and commercial products provide the optimization.

High Payoff Areas:

1. Collaborate on non-traditional/emerging efforts, (e.g. NASA’s low altitude UAS Traffic 

Management (UTM)) to pursue new methods for design, procedures, training, V&V, and 

certification.

2. Develop process for upcoming operational improvement that increases complexity: e.g.,

re-categorization of separation standards (ReCat), if successful, and apply to introduction 

of datacomm.

Emerging Issue: Workforce Selection, Training, and Proficiency

Understanding the human factor aspects and required skills, aptitude, and traits for the human 

components required for NextGen is essential for the optimal design of NextGen and for hiring, 

training, and maintaining a workforce. This will enable the workforce to continuously adapt to 

increasing demands of interacting with automated systems while remaining proficient in manual 

handling operations in order to provide the flexibility and safely handle the variability in the 

system to mitigate operational and safety risk.

Rationale: The aviation industry is challenged by a difficult economic context, changing 

demographics, and new technologies with far-reaching potential. Policy to ensure enough 

competent personnel with the right skills and aptitude are available to manage and maintain a 

global air transportation system is crucial to the success of NextGen. In this context, it becomes 

urgent to understand the human factor issues of this new work force and modify existing policies 

for the recruitment, education, training and retention of the next generation of aviation 

professionals (which includes pilots, air traffic controllers, maintenance, dispatchers, etc.). 

International Civil Aviation Organization is already addressing the issue in the Next Generation 

of Aviation Professional in order to prepare for the continued growth of the air transportation 

system and to address these challenges.

New capabilities and generational differences can alter the human role in negative ways (less 

engaging, less vigilant, changing procedures, new habit patterns, new monitoring requirements, 

handling unforeseen problems, mode confusion, etc.). How do we handle demographic changes 

in the aviation workforce resulting from the looming mass retirement of older, more experienced 

workers and influx of younger, less experienced, more technological savvy workers? Evidence 

is starting to accumulate for both pilots and air traffic controllers showing that reduced 

opportunities to practice manual handling operations coupled with increasing requirements to use 

automated systems can erode not only manual skills, but also cognitive skills accomplished by 

the automated systems. Examples of cognitive skills that may erode could include the ability to 

19
do computations, integrate information from several sources, innovate in ways such as 

developing and executing an emergency plan in order to safely continue operations when 

automated systems fail, etc. Information management has also become an increasing safety issue 

because of the large amount of available information (such as electronic flight bags (EFBs), and 

computerized MEL) which is being introduced into the workplace. More research to understand 

the human factors issues across multi-generational workforce for introducing new technology 

into future airspace operations is needed, and then potential solutions such as training changes 

and more practice of particular skills during operations need to be developed, implemented, and 

evaluated.

New technology is being introduced at such a fast rate that current training devices, 

methodologies, and training footprints are not keeping pace with the required increase in 

knowledge and skills required by humans in the aviation workforce. Evidence shows current 

training methodologies, including distance learning, may not be effective for maintaining the 

required knowledge and skills required for future aviation workers. The recent study completed 

by the PARC/CAST Flight Deck Automation Working Group titled “Operational Use of Flight 

Path Management Systems” provides a detailed discussion of current and future issues 

surrounding the changing demographics of the aviation workforce, evolution in the knowledge 

and skills needed by pilots and air traffic controllers, and exploiting new technology and 

operational concepts for future airspace operations. These operations will require efficient and 

safely distributed processes which will require more collaboration and negotiations between 

actors such as traffic flow managers, controllers, and pilots. Communications will be more 

detailed and less voice-based, increasing the need to properly deal with changes and negotiations 

through computer systems.

Introducing current and future technology into all sectors of the airspace system, coupled with 

changing roles, responsibilities, and human-machine/human-human communications and 

interfaces will have a major impact on the human factors issues and effects automated systems 

have on training, maintaining proficiency in required skills, and existing Crew Resource 

Management (CRM) practices. CRM training will need to continuously evolve in order to 

maintain safe pilot and crew performance during line operations, as well as safe performance of 

all workforce members in the system. In addition, as the use of automated systems becomes 

more integrated, so too will the necessity to develop and train CRM methodologies across 

workgroups. Operators and FAA oversight personnel will need specific guidance on how to 

effectively develop and deliver CRM training, and measure human performance for desired 

training and operational outcomes.

It will be up to the FAA and all stakeholders, including airlines, employee groups, air navigation 

service providers (ANSP), the research community, as well as training and education providers 

to define, update, and modify the regulatory and training environment. This must be done in 

order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of design, education, training, and methods for 

maintaining proficiency of required skills and competencies. The FAA can have a direct impact 

on these challenges by conducting this research into more effective and efficient ways of 

recruiting, training, and maintaining proficiency, and designing resilience into the system.

20
Way Forward:

1. Develop methodologies for identifying the skills and aptitudes required for the workforce 

for NextGen as well as screening techniques for identifying potential candidates with the 

desired traits.

2. Develop methodologies for maintaining and training resilience in the NAS, especially 

dealing with non-routine situations (including dealing with “unknown unknowns”), 

failures unanticipated by designers, partial failures, failures across systems, and startle 

effects.

3. Research into what the human performance envelope is for flight and air traffic control 

operations, how to measure human performance (including required data collection), how 

to conduct training to improve human performance, and how to incorporate new 

technology to improve human performance while staying within that “envelope.”

4. Define human factors issues and criteria for improving pilot and controller performance 

in line operations in order to develop new/improved training devices, methodologies, and 

instructor skills for current and future technology, including addressing the effects of 

automated systems. This includes such things as: improving pilot performance in flight 

path management; improving controller performance in separation management; 

monitoring; task/workload management; managing automated systems; dealing with 

unforeseen or unknown problems; manual handling operations; managing fatigue; and 

other HF issues surrounding new technology.

5. Training research supporting effective distributed team collaboration strategies, which 

encompasses changes in information automation and human-machine/human-human 

interactions resulting from negotiations through computer systems.

6. Research methods for developing and delivering effective distance learning, along with 

the proper balance of distance learning with classroom style instruction and learning. 

Providing specific guidance to operators and those providing FAA oversight on how to 

effectively develop, deliver, and measure human performance for desired training and 

operational outcomes.

a) What types of knowledge and skills distance learning can and cannot be used for.

b) Human factor requirements for developing effective distance learning courseware.

c) How to measure the effectiveness of distance learning.

d) How to integrate distance learning with other training delivery methods (e.g., 

classroom, simulator, etc.) to optimize human performance.

e) Develop means for system-of-system operations and evaluations, including how to 

train all aviation professionals for managing integrated systems.

7. Human-automated systems research to best manage increasing information complexity. 

Define the human factors issues and methodologies associated with development and 

approval process for properly designing and incorporating Information Automation and

EFB into the flight deck so it improves human performance and does not inhibit it. This 

guidance should provide specific guidance to operators and those providing FAA 

21
oversight on how to effectively develop, deliver, and measure human performance for 

desired training and operational outcomes, including guidance on SOP development and 

how to safely introduce and use EFBs in line operations.

8. Provide increased human factors support to air traffic facilities during training and 

operational implementation of new technologies and procedures. In order to attain the 

full benefit of new functions and systems, the FAA needs to follow through with human 

factors monitoring and analysis of how well new functions and procedures are used and 

utilized in the field and take corrective actions where necessary. There will likely be 

unforeseen integration issues with other systems and procedures or reasons why new 

systems and functions cannot be utilized as envisioned. Human factors support during 

the operational implementation can mitigate substantial risk by improving training and 

attaining the required proficiency levels for operating new systems and procedure in air 

traffic facilities.

9. Define the human factors issues and effects current and future automated systems have 

on existing Crew Resource Management (CRM) practices and training. This needs to 

include how CRM training should be modified in order to improve pilot and crew 

performance during line operations. This guidance needs to provide specific guidance to 

operators and FAA oversight on how to effectively develop and deliver CRM training, 

and measure pilot performance for desired training and operational outcomes.

10. Review and revamp CRM methods to reflect new realities for functional and crossfunctional job performance.

Subcommittee on Environment and Energy

Emerging Issue: Low Emissions Aviation Alternative Fuels

Alternative fuel is a significant component of aviation stakeholders’ strategy for environmentally 

sustainable growth. Research is needed to develop a fuel qualification based on chemical 

composition related to engine operational figures of merit. This would not only speed up the 

qualification of new alternative fuels but it also presents the opportunity to tailor fuel 

composition to reduce emissions (e.g. non-volatile particulate matter). This R&D would lead to 

alternative fuels with reduced climate and air quality impacts.

Emerging Issue: Advanced Technologies and Configuration Maturation

The current research portfolio at NASA, FAA and industry for commercial aviation include 

many technologies and configurations that are significantly different than what we see today. A 

significant effort will be required to mature these technologies to a higher technology readiness 

level via demonstration in a relevant system to be a candidate for application to an airplane 

design. FAA’s Continuous Low Emissions Energy and Noise (CLEEN) program has been 

successful in achieving this for low NOx combustor, Composite Matrix Ceramic (CMC) nozzle 

and fan blades, advanced wing trailing edge, among others. CLEEN-2 is expected to mature 

22
several more technologies in the next 5 years. The advanced technologies being developed now 

(e.g., hybrid systems, morphing surfaces, manufacturing technologies, etc.) will require a follow 

on to CLEEN-2 for technology maturation after 5 years.

Emerging Issue: Technology Certification Process

As engine and airplane systems become more complex, demonstrating safety and environmental 

compliance is becoming more complicated, lengthy and costly. These processes need to be made 

more efficient. This can be accomplished by using more analysis and less testing for 

certification. A focused effort that advances and validates analysis procedures is required to 

accomplish this objective.

Emerging Issue: Incorporation of “Growth / Diversification” Areas into NAS

The aviation system is rapidly evolving driven by traffic levels, passenger flight preferences, and 

new vehicle opportunities like Unmanned Air System (UAS), supersonic, Vertical Takeoff and 

Landing (VTOL), Personal Air Vehicle (PAV), and Commercial Space Transportation (CST). 

There is a need to establish methods and procedures to integrate these changes into the NAS. 

UAS operations at low altitudes and in urban environments are a particular area of concern 

environmentally.

Emerging Issue: Big Data / Information Technology Integration

Real-time information-based decisions are critical to improving the operational efficiency and 

environmental impact of air vehicles. To enhance decision making, large datasets from airplane 

and airspace (e.g., vehicle health, ATC, environmental impact, etc.) must be captured and 

processed. Technology that enables integration of relayed information (e.g., weather, 4D 

trajectories, etc.) with cockpit information is needed. This will enable higher levels of onboard 

automation and the ability to further reduce the environmental impacts from aviation.

Emerging Issue: Integrated Modeling and Simulation

The FAA has made significant progress in the development of tools to assess aviation 

environmental impacts and these tools are being used in both domestic and international policy 

development. For NextGen applications a pervasive integration of the entire FAA tool chain is 

desired. The tools also need enhancements in more probabilistic use of modeling and simulation 

as well as inclusion of future concepts of operations including autonomous operations. These 

improvements will enable strategic decision making and planning initially but ultimately they 

will enable informed decision making at a more tactical level (e.g., control of specific flights) for 

reduced environmental impact.

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Subcommittee on Airports

Emerging Issue: Integration of New Generation Aerospace Vehicles into the NAS

The emergence of commercial space operations and unmanned aerial systems (UASs)/remotely 

piloted aircraft (RPA) pose significant new challenges for the FAA, vehicle operators, 

airport/spaceport operators, and local communities. Despite defined research portfolios for both 

types of vehicles, critical research challenges remain. Perhaps more importantly, given the rapid 

development and proliferation of these new vehicles—especially UAS/RPA—these research 

challenges are extremely time critical.

Research can help address many of these concerns and identify how combinations of technology, 

procedures, and regulations can facilitate access to new generation vehicles without 

compromising the safety or efficiency of conventional aircraft operations in the air and on the 

ground.

With respect to commercial space operations, additional research is needed regarding how both 

vertical and horizontal launch concepts can be integrated effectively into the NAS, safely and 

with minimal operational disruptions to conventional aircraft operations. Additional research is 

also needed regarding the physical infrastructure that will be required at spaceports to 

accommodate these space vehicles.

With respect to UAS/RPA operations, additional research is needed in multiple areas including 

aircraft certification, airspace and airfield operations, human/machine interactions, legal & 

regulatory frameworks, and safety & security assurance. The research needs to encompass the 

breadth of existing and likely future UAS/RPA users (military, commercial, and recreational), 

vehicle types, and vehicle uses.

Emerging Issue: Effects of Climate Change on Aviation Infrastructure and Operations

The scientific community has reached general consensus that anthropomorphic climate change is 

occurring, driven by global increases in the use of fossil fuels and other activities that generate 

greenhouse gases.4 In the aviation sector, research is needed both to (1) determine best available 

measures to reduce the aviation’s climate change impacts and (2) adapt aviation infrastructure 

and operations to reflect the impacts that do occur.

Considerable research has been conducted regarding the former area—including significant 

research and development into more fuel efficient engines and airframe designs. Such research 

should continue. Ongoing research and development regarding NextGen capabilities that 

improve the management of air traffic congestion both on the ground and in the airspace is also 

critically important. Such research can be expanded to include improving the energy efficiency 

and reducing the resource consumption of airport infrastructure—including more efficient 

4 See for example Climate Change 2013, The Physical Science Basics, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on 

Climate Change.

24

 
airfield lighting systems, less energy intensive paving and construction methods, and more 

efficient terminal and support building maintenance and operations systems.

In terms of adaptation, significant research is needed regarding the impacts climate change will 

have on critical infrastructure—including airports and ground-based navigational aids. For 

coastal airports that may be threatened by forecast sea level rise and/or storm surge, this research 

includes best practices for hardening airfield and terminal infrastructure, research into saltwaterresistant lighting systems, and in extreme cases, evaluation of alternative airport sites. 

Adaptation-related research is also needed regarding the performance of airfield pavements and 

navigational aids when exposed to extremely high temperatures, as well as the impact of such 

temperatures on construction processes. From a flight operations perspective, research and 

development efforts that focus on operations in very hot environments may also be needed.

Emerging Issue: Managing Airport Operations in a NextGen Environment

As NextGen capabilities are introduced over the next five to six years, they are expected to bring 

substantive improvements to airport capacity, shared situational awareness, and collaborative 

decision making. Many of these capabilities will directly affect airport surface operations as 

well as have secondary impacts on airport terminal and landside operations. Research is needed 

to assess the likely magnitude of these impacts and assess the best ways in which airport 

operators, the airlines, and other stakeholders can prepare for them.

Areas of research related to this issue include:

• Assessing how NextGen may shift capacity bottlenecks from terminal airspace and 

runway systems to apron, terminal or ground transportation systems, particularly during 

irregular operations events and developing planning guidance that accounts for such 

shifts.

• Improving methods for sharing data regarding airport operations among all key 

stakeholders, including the FAA Air Traffic Organization, airlines, other aircraft 

operators, airport operators, and ground service providers.

• Developing decision support technologies/tools that can be utilized to optimize airfield 

and terminal operations, enhance gate utilization, improve resource allocation, and 

bolster operational safety.

• Evaluating the potential consequences and mitigation actions that should be taken in the 

event of NextGen capability disruption (e.g., Global Positioning System outage).

Emerging Issue: NextGen and Noise in the Airport Environs

Not many years ago, the severity of aircraft noise problems on and around many major airports 

was seriously constraining the growth and expansion of such facilities, casting doubt on the 

degree to which such airports could be relied on to meet the needs of a growing civil aviation 

industry. In more recent years, the progression to less-noisy generations of aircraft, coupled with 

aggressive noise abatement steps such as flight path adjustments, residential and school soundproofing, and land acquisition programs have established a new balance of interests that is more 

accommodating to airport growth and expansion. The perils to airport growth which noise 

problems posed in the past are serious enough to warrant extreme care in anticipating and 

25
recognizing the potential of such issues to again arise as NextGen moves in the direction of 

increasing the density of overflight activity in the airport environs and in altering flight paths to 

accomplish that end.

The progress which has been made on this issue over the years resulted from a combination of 

federal and local actions. While the federal actions have concentrated on establishing 

increasingly stringent limits on aircraft noise output and on financial support for land acquisition 

and building soundproofing , the local airport operator actions have included proactive work with 

local land use and zoning authorities, noise monitoring and reporting systems, and a wide array 

of other community outreach and aviation advocacy efforts. In the course of these many local 

efforts it has been apparent that while the acoustic aspects of aircraft overflights is indeed, as the 

name suggests, a major part of the “noise problem”, it is not the only ingredient. Community 

pushback was, and is, also a reflection of discomfort with the potential safety element of lowflying aircraft, with perceived deterioration of property values, and with the strength and vigor of 

political mobilization of community resistance. All in all, the “noise problem” is more complex 

than the simple notion of acoustic disturbance.

All of this gives rise to the need for extreme care in fashioning the flight regimes of NextGen and 

in recognizing that highly localized measures, tailored to deal with the technical and political 

factors found at specific locations, have been key to diffusing much of the “noise” issues of the 

past, and need to be understood and respected if the promise of NextGen is to be realized 

throughout the US aviation system.

Emerging Issue: Advanced Pavement Materials

Maintenance and reconstruction of airport pavement represents a major financial commitment to 

airports and the Federal Aviation Administration. Relatively minor improvement to the life of 

pavements can provide substantial cost savings both in direct repair /replacement costs and user 

delay costs. Improvement and innovation in paving materials represents the most direct way to 

extend pavement life. The fundamentals of current paving materials technology evolved in the 

1940 and 50’s. With the exception of polymers in asphalt and admixtures in concrete, current 

pavement technologies have not changed significantly. Nanotechnology represents a potential 

fundamental breakthrough in paving materials technology that has the promise to provide 

significant improvements in pavement materials.

Materials scientists are studying and experimenting with fundamentals in nanotechnology. More 

research is needed in applying nanotechnology to paving materials and in studying direct 

application to nanotechnology to pavements. The FAA’s National Airport Pavement Test 

Facility is an excellent location to study these applications and bridge the gap between science 

and implementation by using accelerated testing.

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The following two sections summarize additional research areas that the Subcommittee on 

Airports believes should be considered by the Office of Airports and Airport Technologies 

Research Program.

LONG-TERM/STRATEGIC ISSUES

Emerging Issue: Safety Risk Assessment Processes for Airport Design Standards

As formalized safety risk assessment processes proliferate in the U.S. aviation industry, 

increasing tensions are arising between historical airport design standards (e.g., those developed 

without the use of safety risk assessment techniques, including quantitative assessment of risk) 

and newer generation standards that take these techniques into consideration. Perhaps more 

problematically, some “new-generation” standards have been developed without apparent 

assessment of risk, raising the question regarding the safety justification of these standards.

RESEARCH NEED: Research is needed to develop improved guidance regarding risk 

assessment methods that can be applied in airfield standards development—particularly when 

these risks are associated with rare or very-rare events for which limited historical records of 

occurrence are available.

Emerging Issue: Airport Data Management

Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of geospatial, operational, and safety 

databases pertinent to airport operations, maintenance, safety, and planning. These data are 

spread across a wide variety of “owners”—including airport operators, airlines, the FAA, and 

private providers—creating a patchwork of data with varying degrees of accuracy, currency, and 

accessibility. This patchwork has created duplicative and sometimes conflicting aviation data in 

areas including airspace obstructions, airport surface surveillance, flight status, safety risk 

assessment, etc.. It has also raised significant questions regarding who “owns” particular types 

of data and how the accessibility of critical operational and safety data can be provided to those 

that have a need for it.

RESEARCH NEED: Research is needed regarding how airport operators, the FAA, and airport 

users can best manage and use the vast array of geospatial, operational, and safety data that are 

available both within the FAA and commercially to improve the safety and operational 

efficiency of the airports within the National Airspace System. This research should look 

beyond the FAA’s ongoing Airport GIS program to future needs for airport data management.

Emerging Issue: Autonomous Ground Service Equipment at Airports

There have been several proposals over the past 5 years regarding the use of autonomous or 

remotely controlled ground service vehicles at airports. Most of these proposals have focused on 

aircraft tugs and have included use of these tugs to tow aircraft to locations at or near the ends of 

departure runways to reduce aircraft fuel consumption.

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RESEARCH NEEDED: Research is needed to assess the potential uses of automated and/or 

remotely controlled ground service equipment at airports and determine how such equipment can 

be safely and effectively utilized.

Emerging Issue: Jet Blast Hazards

As the terminal and maneuvering area congestion increases, there is a need to re-baseline 

whether the typical industry threshold of 35mph contour for personnel exposure remains 

appropriate or to what it should be. Also for further consideration from a design perspective, is 

whether additional operational jet blast separation criteria needs to be established for aircraft 

crossing behind each other.

RESEARCH NEEDED: Research is needed to develop improved guidance regarding jet blast 

exposure of personnel and aircraft in the apron and maneuvering area.

NEAR-TERM/TACTICAL ISSUES

Emerging Issue: Improved Pavement Management Approaches

Managing pavements requires a reliable pavement performance indicator. Existing pavement 

management systems are based upon a visually inferred Pavement Condition Index (PCI). PCI 

approach measures some distresses that indirectly relate to structural degradation, such as 

cracking or rutting, yet no well-defined relationship between structural and functional 

performance.

RESEARCH NEED: Examine the suitability of using the modulus derived from the falling 

weight deflectometer method of pavement structural health monitoring. Mechanistically derived 

pavement condition parameter will provide engineers and improved understanding of pavement 

distress and lead to the selection of best suited maintenance.

Emerging Issue: Next Generation Runway Status Light Systems

Current Runway Status Lights program will soon be discontinued.

RESEARCH NEED: Examine cost effective solutions that could be deployed at airports to 

strengthen safety and situational awareness.

Emerging Issue: Maintenance Technologies/Practices for LED Airfield Lighting

Advancements in light emitting diode (LED) technology and their implementation to airfield 

lighting systems has become commonplace in the aviation world. As opposed to burning out like 

an incandescent fixture (easy to see with the naked eye), an LED fixture’s light output slowly 

decreases (hard to see with the naked eye). The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) 

determined that the usable life of an LED fixture is its L70 value, or point at which the light 

fixture is at 70% its original light output levels. Due to the slow decrease in light output, an LED 

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fixture may not become noticeably dimmer until it is well past its technical lifespan. This creates 

a problem in accurately determining the useful life of LED light fixtures.

RESEARCH NEED: Since a single light meter cannot accurately measure the output of an LED 

airfield light fixture to FAA Advisory Circular standards, one possible solution would be to 

develop an array of portable light output meters that can be placed over a light fixture to quickly 

measure the light output of that fixture. The light meter array would be installed on a single 

frame cylindrical in shape. This would provide a more accurate and repeatable test to quickly 

determine the light output of the LED light fixture, allowing airport maintenance staff to ensure 

their lights are operating at FAA and IES standards.

Emerging Issue: Portland Cement Concrete Paving Trends and Advancements

In the last 50 years there have been significant changes in concrete technology as well as 

concrete pavement construction technology. As construction technology, material suppliers and 

production techniques change, so does the predictability of the end product, which can 

significantly impact the 20 year life expectancy and required maintenance of runways.

RESEARCH NEED: The assignment of a historian on construction trends looking at materials,

mixtures and pavement construction technology. The historian would also oversee the 

development of a library of case studies documenting significant success and failures following 

the industry trends.

Potential areas to be studied include:

1. Overall changes in design mixes and additives.

2. Consistency and availability of raw material from open-pit mines.

3. Changes in the availability, production and alkaline of Portland used in concrete 

construction.

4. Historical tracking of success and failures of runway and taxiway construction across the 

country and their relationship to the materials, equipment and construction techniques 

used over the last 50-75 years.

5. Examine issues associated with local availability of sub-bases and their effect on 

constructability and the overall life of the pavement dependent on the area of the county 

they are constructed.

6. Overall trends in the industry.

Emerging Issue: Updating Exit Taxiway Location and Design Guidance

With the implementation of the FAA’s NextGen improvements that provide more consistent and 

possibly decreased aircraft in-tail separations on final approach (such as ReCat, etc.), there will 

be increased emphasis on minimizing runway occupancy times for landing aircraft. Guidance on 

planning and design optimal exit taxiway locations and geometry is dated. For example the 

primary model for locating exit taxiways -- Runway Exit Interactive Design Model (REDIM) --

was developed under FAA contract by Virginia Institute of Technology in the early 1990s. 

REDIM does not include many of today’s aircraft including regional jets, newer, heavier models 

of 737s and A320s, 777 and 787s.

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RESEARCH NEED: Research is needed to update REDIM and or create an improved model 

that provides practical guidance on optimal exit taxiway locations for new runways or 

improvements to existing runways. Also, high speed and angled exit taxiway design geometry 

should be reviewed to ensure efficient layout.

Emerging Issue: Use of Variable Message Airfield Signing

The FAA and airport operators continue to focus on ways to prevent incursions into runways, 

construction areas, and other closed portions of the airfield. One idea that has been suggested is 

the use of variable message signing that would supplement conventional airfield signs to enhance 

“hot spots” and other key areas. These programmable signs (similar to those used for roads) 

could be relocatable or permanently installed.

RESEARCH NEED: Research is needed to investigate the feasibility of installing and operating 

variable message signs on the airfield and related technologies and consideration of standards. 

Technologies may include LED and liquid crystal displays.

Emerging Issue: Use of ASDE-X or Surface Multilateration System Data in Pavement

Management and Evaluation

In the effort to reduce the impact on aircraft operations and the significant airport costs for 

airfield repairs and rehabilitation, there is a need to improve the quality of the input to pavement 

management systems. The availability of data to better characterize aircraft flow patterns and 

repetitions provided by FAA’s Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X)

system and/or third-party now being installed at larger airports provide an opportunity to 

improve the fidelity of the assumptions input into pavement management models such as the 

FAA’s PAVEAIR. These pavement use history assumptions are often hard to estimate

accurately.

RESEARCH NEED: Develop an interface that will allow direct or near-direct downloading to 

PAVEAIR model (or similar models) from data provided from ASDE-X and third-party surface 

surveillance systems.

Emerging Issue: Runway/Taxiway Separation Standards Reassessment

The steady increase of New Large Aircraft (NLA) into the overall commercial aviation fleet is 

forcing land restricted airports into accepting capacity reductions due to conflicts with runway 

centerline to taxiway separation standards. As these NLA continue to come on-line and make up 

a growing proportion of the fleet, these losses in efficiency will dramatically increase.

While much has been done to research taxiway deviations for NLA, a better understanding of 

runway centerline deviations are needed.

RESEARCH NEED: Research is needed to study runway centerline deviations specifically as 

they relate to NLA. The number of NLA in the fleet and their operating to multiple facilities 

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worldwide represents a good pool of data. This research should measure a statistically 

representative number of NLA runway centerline deviations and the data should be analyzed 

through a formalized safety risk assessment process. The results of this research should be used 

to assess existing runway to taxiway and runway width standards for Group VI aircraft and 

determine the sufficiency of existing requirements.

Emerging Issue: Obstruction Standards Reassessment in a NextGen Environment

Aircraft manufacturers and airlines are showing commitments to equipping their fleets with 

technology that enables them to use more advanced (accurate) approach procedures at airports 

(Area Navigation, Ground-Based Augmentation System). Airports have invested in these 

technologies only to find that the airspace needed to protect from an obstructions standpoint

spans a much wider area than traditional instrument approach technologies. In order for the 

efficiencies promised by these advanced systems to be realized, airspace protection needs to be 

commensurate with the accuracy of the technology providing approach guidance.

RESEARCH NEED: Research is needed to look at the improvement of the protected surfaces 

for these more advanced approach navigation procedures. Specifically, this research should look 

at existing procedures (airspace separation, closely-spaced parallel operations, etc.) and 

recommend improvements to standards based on the accuracy of these next-generation systems.

Emerging Issue: Reassessment of Rationale for Airport Beacons

A continued issue for large hub airports is the constant need to relocate or dedicate valuable land 

to accommodating the airport beacon. The costs and time needed to plan for, design and relocate 

for beacons is surprisingly significant. For land constrained airports with active tenant 

communities, this issue continues to present a problem as airport structures are added or 

demolished.

RESEARCH NEED: Research is needed to determine the utility of airport beacons as they relate 

to air navigation, specifically at large airports located in sizable metropolitan (brightly-lit) areas.

Emerging Issue: Improvement in Compaction Testing Protocols for Asphalt Concrete

Pavements

Density and corresponding air voids are key asphalt concrete mix properties that predict 

pavement performance. The highway industry uses maximum theoretical density (MTD) as the 

basis for percent compaction. The airports use laboratory compacted samples as the basis for 

compaction and only use the MTD test to check air voids. The variability associated with 

laboratory based density is significantly higher than that where MTD is used as the base. Even 

though the MTD is more direct and provides a more accurate determination of both density and 

air voids, FAA has expressed a reluctance to switch to the MTD basis due to the present use of 

the percent within limits (PWL) specification. PWL is used as a pay factor for determining the 

statistical consistency of pavement density on a project. The basis of the PWL specification was 

calculated form actual construction projects records that used laboratory based densities.

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RESEARCH NEED: Research is needed to confirm or establish a new PWL specification for 

MTD based compaction. Much of this can be done by re-examining project records and 

verifying on existing projects.

POLICY ISSUES

Emerging Issue: Expanding Use of Demonstration Projects to Disseminate Pavement

Research

Excellent pavement research has been and continues to be produced by FAA. However, the 

present system of distribution and promoting use of this research has resulted in very slow and 

limited use of the results and products in the field. The Federal Highway Administration has 

used a system of demonstration projects and distribution of demonstration project results to make 

a successful transition to the new technologies. The FAA system does not provide support to 

project designers and those responsible for specifying new technologies to allow them to take the 

perceived risk of using new procedures and technologies.

RESEARCH NEED: FAA needs to look into new ways to better promote and implement 

pavement technologies verified in their research projects, possibly through expanded use of 

demonstration projects.

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