Safe RPAS integration in non-segregated airspace
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
ISSN: 0002-2667
Article publication date: 26 February 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess the implications in safety levels by the integration of remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS). The goal is to calculate the number of RPAS that can jointly operate with conventional aircraft regarding conflict risk, without exceeding current safety levels.
Design/methodology/approach
This approach benchmarks a calculated level of safety (CLS) with a target level of safety (TLS). Monte Carlo (MC) simulations quantify the TLS based on the current operation of conventional aircraft. Then, different experiments calculate the CLS associated with combinations of conventional aircraft and RPAS. MC simulations are performed based on probabilistic distributions of aircraft performances, entry times and geographical distribution. The safety levels are based on a conflict risk model because the safety metrics are the average number of conflicts and average conflict duration.
Findings
The results provide restrictions to the number of RPAS that can jointly operate with conventional aircraft. The TLS is quantified for four conventional aircraft. MC simulations confirm that the integration of RPAS demands a reduction in the total number of aircraft. The same number of RPAS than conventional aircraft shows an increase over 90% average number of conflicts and 300% average conflict time.
Research limitations/implications
The methodology is applied to one flight level of en-route airspace without considering climbing or descending aircraft.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the most advanced investigations performed to quantify the number of RPAS that can be safely integrated into non-segregated airspace, which is one of the challenges for the forthcoming integration of RPAS. Particularly, Europe draws to allow operating RPAS and conventional aircraft in non-segregated airspace by 2025, but this demanding perspective entails a thorough analysis of operational and safety aspects involved.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This project has been developed under the Observatory for the Advancement of Air Traffic Management (OIDATM) promoted by ISDEFE. Particularly, the authors would like to acknowledge Gonzalo Águeda and Cristina Altemir from UPM and Miguel A. Martín Blanco, Jaime Torrecilla, Maria Anta Garcia and Susana Duran Vizuete from ISDEFE.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Citation
Pérez-Castán, J.A., Gómez Comendador, F., Rodríguez-Sanz, Á., Arnaldo Valdés, R.M. and Alonso-Alarcon, J.F. (2020), "Safe RPAS integration in non-segregated airspace", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 92 No. 6, pp. 801-806. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-11-2019-0224
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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