Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) and Situational Awareness for Pilots in UAS Operations
(Room 271-272)
03 May 16
11:00 AM
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11:30 AM
Tracks:
Air, Research and Development, Technical Track: Airspace Integration Research
This report and the presentation to the AUVSI Xponential audience will focus on the various ways safety factors can be quantified in the new paradigm of risk management employed by the FAA known as Risk Based decision making. Key to the presentation at AUVSI will be the analysis and findings of recent pilot survey results from pilots across the country and outside the UAS on their use of NOTAMs, and experiences encountering unmanned aircraft in the National Airspace System (NAS). This information is the first of its kind in recent years, and incorporates surveys of over 1000 pilots responding to questions about their use of NOTAMs, access to inflight data, and frequency of reference to information available in the air on other aircraft flying in controlled and uncontrolled airspace. Audience members will take away new information on the importance of checking NOTAMs before flight, the real world answers on whether manned aviation pilots actually do check NOTAMs, and what regulators can do to increase the safety of all airspace users now and in the future based on real data and quantified safety data never before available til now. Researchers on this project have a long history of subject matter expertise in this area, and the speaker is a consistently informative and dynamic presenter with a proven track record at AUVSI. As the Corporate Safety Risk Management Official and a Senior Safety Consultant for MTSI, Heather Harris is uniquely qualified to present this dynamic presentation appropriate for all experience levels of UAS industry involvement within the Xponential Audience. As Sr. SMS Consultant at the Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence and AeroVironment, as well as an active member of the general aviation community, Heather is working closely with commercial and government customers to develop safety management system practices tailored to unmanned aerial systems operations. Over the past six years she has conducted UAS safety research and safety case consulting for the Office of the Secretary of Defense Airspace Integration Integrated Product Team, the Policy Board for Aviation, NAVAIR, NASA, the FAA, AeroVironment, General Atomics, and commercial customers. An advocate for contributing to the industry in safety and policy development, Heather is an active participant in the aviation industry as a regular speaker for industry organizations, and participant in RTCA and ASTM committees to establish safety guidance on unmanned systems. Heather has 20 years of experience in aviation, telecommunications, supply chain management, computer information systems, and government contracting. She holds bachelor and master of science degrees from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, is dual rated in helicopter and fixed wing aircraft, and is UAS pilot in her spare time. As a member of Women in Aerospace International, AUVSI, EAA, AOPA and Whirly Girls International Female Helicopter Pilots Association, Heather mentors other female professionals and participates in aviation career and STEM outreach efforts for children and adults.