A2 CofC Human Factors & Situational Awareness 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does 'situational awareness' mean in the context of drone operations?
- The ability to see the drone at all times during flight
- Understanding what is happening around the drone, its current status, and what may happen next (Correct answer)
- Knowing the exact GPS coordinates of the drone at all times
- The legal requirement to maintain visual contact with the drone
Correct answer: Understanding what is happening around the drone, its current status, and what may happen next
Situational awareness encompasses perceiving environmental elements, understanding their meaning, and anticipating future states in order to make safe decisions.
Question 2: Which cognitive bias describes a pilot's tendency to continue a risky flight because they have already invested significant time and effort in planning it?
- Confirmation bias
- Sunk cost fallacy (Correct answer)
- Anchoring bias
- Availability heuristic
Correct answer: Sunk cost fallacy
The sunk cost fallacy causes pilots to continue with a mission because of prior investment, even when conditions suggest the flight should be aborted.
Question 3: 'Get-there-itis' (or press-on-itis) refers to which dangerous pilot tendency?
- Flying too fast in order to reach a destination quickly
- The urge to complete a flight despite warning signs suggesting it should be abandoned (Correct answer)
- Flying beyond visual line of sight without authorisation
- Ignoring low battery warnings to finish the mission
Correct answer: The urge to complete a flight despite warning signs suggesting it should be abandoned
'Get-there-itis' describes the compulsion to complete a mission that overrides sound judgement about safety.
Question 4: How does fatigue primarily affect a drone pilot's performance?
- It improves focus by filtering out unnecessary distractions
- It increases reaction time and impairs decision-making capability (Correct answer)
- It has minimal effect on experienced pilots with good muscle memory
- It only affects physical operations, not cognitive tasks such as planning
Correct answer: It increases reaction time and impairs decision-making capability
Fatigue slows reaction times and degrades cognitive function, making sound decision-making and hazard recognition significantly less reliable.
Question 5: What is 'task saturation' in the context of drone operations?
- When the drone's waypoint list is full and no more can be added
- When a pilot is overwhelmed with too many concurrent tasks, causing performance to degrade (Correct answer)
- When a LiPo battery has been fully charged too many times and loses capacity
- When the drone's sensors are receiving too much conflicting data
Correct answer: When a pilot is overwhelmed with too many concurrent tasks, causing performance to degrade
Task saturation occurs when cognitive load exceeds a pilot's capacity, leading to errors, omissions, and reduced situational awareness.
Question 6: The 'Swiss Cheese Model' of accident causation, developed by James Reason, describes:
- Layered defence systems that, when their gaps align, allow accidents to occur (Correct answer)
- A training method using multiple independent instructors to reduce bias
- A type of restricted airspace pattern used around aerodromes
- The pattern of drone component failures that develop progressively over time
Correct answer: Layered defence systems that, when their gaps align, allow accidents to occur
James Reason's Swiss Cheese Model illustrates how multiple defensive layers each contain weaknesses, and accidents occur when those weaknesses align simultaneously.
Question 7: What is the 'startle effect' in drone and aviation operations?
- The unexpected activation of the drone's return-to-home failsafe function
- An involuntary, immediate reaction to an unexpected event that can temporarily impair performance (Correct answer)
- The visual surprise caused by a drone unexpectedly entering another person's field of view
- A notification system that alerts pilots to sudden airspace changes
Correct answer: An involuntary, immediate reaction to an unexpected event that can temporarily impair performance
The startle effect is an involuntary physiological and psychological response to unexpected stimuli that can momentarily impair a pilot's ability to respond correctly.
A2 CofC Human Factors & Situational Awareness 1
What does 'situational awareness' mean in the context of drone operations?