You may remember this - or it was well before you were born… but in the early days of aviation,
there were five flight crew members in the cockpit assisting in flying the aircraft.
These crew members consisted of the captain, the first officer, the flight engineer,
the navigator, and a radio operator. With advancements in technology, the crew complement
has been now reduced to just two on-duty personnel - the captain and the first officer.
Near the end of 2022, we heard the news of some regulators coming together to discuss
the possibility of removing one of the pilots in the cockpit and heading toward what is called
Single Pilot Operations (SPO). This news was not well taken by most in the industry.
So, is SPO a possibility? In this video,
we will discuss the main concerns and challenges in implementing SPO in commercial air transport.
If single pilot operations were to become a reality - it would
be huge for the airlines. Their flight crew requirements would be significantly reduced,
and any pilot shortage issues could be solved - or at least postponed.
Of course, airlines will always prioritize safety over profits - even if it sometimes doesn’t feel
that way from a passenger perspective. Having two pilots instead of one would indeed be an issue of
safety. So what are the main concerns associated with having just one pilot flying the aircraft?
Well, on the surface, the concerns are obvious. Two pilots in the cockpit have
been the norm since the beginning of passenger air transport, and there are many reasons behind it.
The first obvious reason for why there should be two pilots in the cockpit is
Redundancy - having a back-up pilot who is able to fly the aircraft.
If one of the pilots were to become incapacitated, the other pilot could
take over the full operation of the aircraft and make a landing. Every so often, we hear
reports of pilots becoming incapacitated during a flight. In these situations,
it’s more important than ever to have another experienced crew member who is able to cover.
If you know anything about aircraft design and operations,
one of the pillars of aviation is redundancy - and Taking one pilot away is a big risk.
Secondly, a reduction in overall workload for each crew member is the other factor to consider.
A pilot’s job is not only to fly the aircraft. It also involves proper
systems management and communication to ensure the safety of the operation.
In today’s airliner cockpit, there are two pilots with assigned roles.
One is the Pilot Flying (PF), and the other is the Pilot Monitoring (PM).
The PF’s job is to fly and navigate the aircraft, while the job of the PM is everything else.
This includes communication with the ATC, systems monitoring and management, and, most importantly,
monitoring the actions of the PF. This way, the most critical part of the flight - the
act of flying itself - is centered around one single pilot, which reduces the risk of errors.
The roles of the PF and PM intensify in failure conditions, where the PM still
manages the non-flying abnormal procedures that are required to counter the failure condition.
It is in abnormal conditions that the importance of two pilots is fully realized.
Complex failures can be difficult to comprehend, and this requires active input from both pilots
to dive deep into the problem and solve it. This sometimes may include shifting
of the roles between the pilots (i.e., the PF momentarily becoming the PM).
While much of the movie Sully is a dramatized Hollywood version of the 2009 event known as
the “Miracle on the Hudson,” the cockpit scene demonstrates how important a second
crew member can be during a crisis, as the captain is able to focus on flying the plane
while the first officer carefully goes over the appropriate checklist.
The other benefit of two pilot operations is that both pilots can check each other’s
work to ensure that something is done properly. As humans do make mistakes,
one more set of eyes watching helps to minimize errors that could lead to a serious incident.
Many times, incidents and accidents have been avoided due to cross-checking, which is the common
norm in an airliner cockpit - as well as in the cabin with flight attendants and emergency exits..
So with these factors needing to be considered,
what sorts of challenges stand in the way of safe and effective single pilot operations?
Firstly, the technology simply does not exist at the moment
A modern airliner is highly automated. However,
the automation and the autoflight system is simply an obedient subordinate of the pilots.
It can only do what it is told to do. It does not have a mind of its own.
If airliners are to be operated with a single pilot in the cockpit,
the automation must have some characteristics that represent
the human pilot it is replacing. It must be able to challenge and respond to the pilot,
and it must be able to “tell” the pilot what it is doing before the task is completed.
The main problem with this is that you can only program a computer
to a limit. A human can adapt to the changing environment. Unfortunately,
a computer can only perform tasks as per the codes written in it. So,
it becomes really difficult to divide the tasks between a human pilot and automation.
A simple example is this: let's say an aircraft is on a challenging approach to land and,
close to the ground, it starts to rain and the winds pick up.
The (Pilot Monitoring) turns on the wiper without asking the (Pilot Flying).
The PF does not say anything as he is fully concentrated on flying the
aircraft safely onto the runway. After the aircraft is safely on the ground,
the PF thanks the PM for turning on the wiper.
What happened in this given example is a classic case of human cognitive ability. The PM used
his knowledge and understanding of very basic human behavior to make the task easier for his
colleague. He knew the PF was not in a position to talk due to the very challenging approach. So,
he did what he thought was the best. He turned on the wiper to clear the rain off the windshield.
But you might be watching and asking “Well, Couldn’t a computer do it too?”
Yes, it could be programmed to detect rain and turn on the wiper. But it first needs to
be specifically programmed to respond to a specific amount of rain contamination,
for the wipers to be turned on. Sometimes, light rain may not require wipers,
and turning them on could distract the pilot. A human pilot, on the other hand,
knows with his flying experience how much rain would cause problems for the other pilot and
how much would not. A computer cannot realize this, no matter how advanced the technology is.
The physical ability of the automated systems is also a question
The automation in an aircraft, particularly in a large airliner, is highly integrated and
sophisticated. It requires input from various aircraft sensors for it to work properly. If
it loses some or all of the data, then it can no longer fly the aircraft. And modern fly-by-wire
aircraft become extremely difficult to fly without data inputs to the control system. So,
the pilot not only has to perform the non-flying abnormal procedures,
but he is also handed over a crippled aircraft that can no longer be flown accurately.
In a two-pilot cockpit environment, such a failure becomes easier to manage because one
pilot can wholly concentrate on flying the aircraft (the pilot flying) while the other
pilot tries to counter the issue with the set procedures. In a single-pilot cockpit,
such a failure could easily overwhelm the pilot to the point where he loses his situational awareness
and becomes both physically and mentally fatigued. This can lead to a disaster.
So, the autopilot systems in an aircraft with single-pilot
operations must be more robust and redundant, and more complex.
This last point, the complexity, is another interesting talking point.
What if the integration, sophistication, and complexity of the automation become so high
that a pilot simply fails to understand it? This can get very complicated in automation failure
situations where the pilot may have a hard time understanding what has failed and what is working.
This can make him mistrust the system to the point where he is not confident in giving certain roles
to the automation, again increasing the workload. This can make it extremely hard for the pilot, who
has to single-handedly manage all of the systems, the failure, and of course, the flying itself.
So, as you can see, there’s still a long way to go before we might see single pilot operations.
And while we’re pretty sure we know how most of you would
feel about the prospect of having only one pilot flying an aircraft,
we’d love to hear what you think about it all - and the reasons for your position.
Leave a comment and let us know! Thanks for watching!