Abstract

Commercial air transport in the western world is arguably the safest system ever – how can that be, given that hazards are ever-present? This talk reviews trends in aviation safety. Even as we develop increasingly-autonomous technologies, implicit to operational approval is the assumption that the pilot-in-command will take over in many conditions. Thus, this talk will conclude by discussing the many contributions of humans to safety, especially those that are only now starting to be understood and articulated, and relating them to where autonomy can best contribute.

Speaker

Dr. Amy R. Pritchett

AMY R. PRITCHETT is a professor and head of Aerospace Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Previously, Dr. Pritchett was at Georgia Tech, and Director of NASA’s Aviation Safety Program. Her research focuses on the intersection of technology, expert human performance and aerospace operations. She has received the AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award, RTCA William Jackson Award and, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, the 2008CollierTrophy. She earned her Sc.D., S.M. and S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. She chairs the National Academies committee on emerging trends in aviation safety.