UAS Operational Risk Management

            The rapid rise of unmanned aerial systems, or UAS, into the Earth’s airspace is being led by companies like Lockheed Martin. Currently, Lockheed Martin has developed a new generation of UAS which is smaller, lighter and more agile than previous generations. Lockheed Martin is calling their new type of small UAS, or sUAS, the Indago sUAS. This platform is a quadrotor aircraft, which allows military, law enforcement, and commercial users a quick way to see what’s going on within an area through its versatile payload options (Lockheed Martin, 2016). However despite the new capabilities, the Indago sUAS platform is still requires users be aware of potential hazards and risks during operations. In the effort to aid users in the safety assessment of the Indago sUAS during a military disaster relief operation, a few safety assessment tools will be discussed and used. They are the preliminary hazard list/assessment, the operational hazard review and analysis, and lastly, the sUAS risk assessment form. To truly understand the risks associated with operating the Indago sUAS during a disaster relief operation; users must start with the preliminary hazard list/assessment.

            The preliminary hazard list/assessment, or PHL/A, should be the starting tool in any operation. This tool is designed to be a forum in which the users brainstorm potential hazards and the risks associated with those hazards. To be comprehensive, users should be conducting the PHL/A tool for each of the five phases of a sUAS operation (Shappee, 2012). For the purposes of comprehension, we will complete a PHL/A list for a simulated hurricane disaster relief operation on the island of Oahu, in the state of Hawaii. We will be specifically looking at the staging phase of the operation.

	PRELIMINARY HAZARD LIST/ANALYSIS (PHL/A)
DATE: ________		PREPARED BY: ______________________				Page ___ OF ____
Operational Stage:		□ Planning       □ Staging        □ Launch       □ Flight        □ Recovery
Track #	Hazard	Probability	Severity	RL	Mitigating Action	RRL	Notes
1	Birds	Improbable	Marginal	4	Avoid clusters of trees	2
2	Other Aircraft	Remote	Catastrophic	6	Contact local ATC when operating near used airspace	4
3	Poor lighting	Remote	Marginal	4	Ensure payload camera backlight feature is functional	2
4	Difficult terrain	Frequent	Critical	9	Use onboard cameras and sound communication with ground personnel to avoid hazards	7

Table 1: Preliminary Hazard List/Analysis (PHL/A) Tool

            With the PHL/A tool complete; now is the time to investigate hazards through the entire operation.  The operational hazard review and analysis, or OHR&A, is a vital step in operations which are underway because it provides immediate insight to figure out if the actions taken to reduce hazards and risks have worked (Shappee, 2012). The OHR&A tool looks almost identical to the PHL/A tool and in fact it appears to have been designed that way. Risks and hazards listed on the PHL/A tool are still monitored and tracked on the OHR&A tool, and as such should, have tracking numbers which match up. To continue with the comprehension of the OHR&A tool, Table 2: Operational Hazard Review & Analysis Tool below, is a filled out OHR&A sheet for a simulated hurricane disaster relief operation on the island of Oahu, in the state of Hawaii.

	OPERATIONAL HAZARD REVIEW & ANALYSIS (OHR&A)
DATE: ________		PREPARED BY: ______________________				Page ___ OF ____
Operational Stage:		□ Planning       □ Staging        □ Launch       □ Flight        □ Recovery
Track #	Action Review	Probability	Severity	RL	Mitigating Action	RRL	Notes
1	Lost comms	Remote	Catastrophic	7	Establish an alternate line-of sight link	5
2	Long flight hours (CRM)	Probable	Critical	9	Enforce proper crew rest, ensure adequate number of crews	3
3	Difficult terrain	Occasional	Critical	5	Survey area before proceeding into hazardous area	2

Table 2: Operational Hazard Review & Analysis Tool

            Now that the OHR&A tool is complete, Indigo sUAS users can now apply a risk assessment tool to aid in determining if they should go ahead with the operation, reschedule, or call it off. Additionally, if the crew decides to proceed with the operation, the risk assessment tool will be a crucial element in briefing the oncoming crew as well as, a useful starting point in the avoidance of risks and hazards (Shappee, 2012). Table below is a replica of the tool used by the military and the airline industry applied to our scenario of a simulated hurricane on the island of Oahu, in the state of Hawaii.

sUAS RISK ASSESSMENT
UAS Crew/Station	_______________/_____			_______________/_____
	_______________/_____			_______________/_____
Mission Type	SUPPORT 1	TRAINING 2	PAYLOAD CHECK 3	EXPERIMENTAL 4
Hardware Changes	NO 1			YES 4
Software Changes	NO 1			YES 4
Airspace Of Operation	Special Use 1	Class C 2	Class C 3	Class E, G 4
Has PIC Flown This Type Of Aircraft	YES 1			NO 4
Flight Condition	DAY 1			NIGHT 4
Visibility	> 10 MILES 1	6-9 MILES 2	3-5 MILES 3	< 3 MILES 4
Ceiling In Feet AGL	> 10,000 1	3000-4900 2	1000-2900 3	< 1000 4
Surface Winds		0-10 KTS 2	11-15 KTS 3
Forecast Winds		0-10 KTS 2	11-15 KTS 3
Weather Deteriorating	NO 1			YES 4
Mission Altitude In Feet AGL		<1000 2	1000-2900 3	> 3000 4
Are All Crew Members Current	YES 1		NO 3	CURRENCY FLIGHT REQUIRED
Other Range/Airspace Activity	NO 1			YES 4
Established Lost Link Procedures	YES 1			NO NO FLIGHT
Observation Type	Line of Sight & Chase 1		Chase Only 3	Line of Sight & Only 4
UAS Grouping	GROUP I 1	GROUP II 2	GROUP III 3	GROUP IV 4
Total	8	6	12	8	34
	RISK LEVEL
	20-30	31-40	41-50	51-64
	LOW	MEDIUM	SERIOUS	HIGH

            As the risk analysis shows, the risk level for sending the Indago sUAS out to aid in disaster relief of a hurricane in Oahu, Hawaii carries a medium level of risk. However, users need to be aware of and fully engaged with looking for and mitigating risks as they arise. In either case, the use of all these tools will greatly enhance the capabilities of the users in determining risks and hazards.

References

Lockheed Martin. (2016). Indago UAS. Retrieved from Lockheed Martin.com: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/procerus/indago-uas.html

Shappee, E. J. (2012). Safety Assessments. In R. K. Barnhart, S. B. Hottman , D. M. Marshall, E. Shappee, R. K. Barnhart, S. B. Hottman, D. M. Marshall, & E. Shappee (Eds.), Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (pp. 123-136). Boca Raton, Florida, United States of America: CRC Press.