The U.S. Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Experience: Evidence-Based Human Systems Integration Lessons Learned

Background: This study was a 10-year cross sectional analysis of human factors in U.S. military UAV mishaps. Methods: Class A-C UAV mishap reports were reviewed and human factors coded using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). HFACS codes were linked to human systems integration (HSI) domains. Binary logistic regression was used to create models predicting operator error. Results: /221 (60.2%) UAV mishaps involved human factors. Predictors of operator error were technological environment and cognitive factors in the Air Force (P < 0.010), organizational process, psycho-behavioral factors, and crew resource management in the Army (P < 0.001), and organizational process, inadequate supervision, planned inappropriate operations, physical and technological environments, and cognitive and psycho-behavioral factors in the Navy (P < 0.025). The frequency of specific types of unsafe acts differed between the services with skill-based errors more common in the Air Force (P = 0.001) and violations in the Army (P = 0.016). HSI failures associated with operator error involved the human factors (functional and cognitive interfaces) and personnel domains in the Air Force (P < 0.001), the human factors (cooperational, cognitive, and physical interfaces) and training domains in the Army (P < 0.001), and the human factors (environmental, cooperational, organizational, and cognitive interfaces) and training domains in the Navy (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Recurring latent failures at the organizational, supervisory, and preconditions levels contributed to more than half of UAV mishaps. The patterns of latent failures and unsafe acts differed between the services. HSI issues pertaining to the human factors domain were common to all services. Tvaryanas, A.P.; Thompson, W.T.; Constable, S.H. (2005) The U.S. Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Experience: Evidence-Based Human Systems Integration Lessons Learned. In Strategies to Maintain Combat Readiness during Extended Deployments – A Human Systems Approach (pp. 5-1 – 5-24). Meeting Proceedings RTO-MP-HFM-124, Paper 5. Neuilly-sur-Seine, France: RTO. Available from: http://www.rto.nato.int/abstracts.asp. The U.S. Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Experience: Evidence-Based Human Systems Integration Lessons Learned 5 2 RTO-MP-HFM-124 1.0 INTRODUCTION