Physiological issues will affect all manned and unmanned pilots at some point during their careers. Sometimes a pilot wakes up more fatigued than expected or with some type of head cold. What makes pilots safe and professional is their ability to mitigate risk and determine if they are able to actually complete the flight or not. UAS operators have to evaluate how they are feeling before every flight based on the IMSAFE procedure. The IMSAFE procedure looks at illness, medication, stress, alcohol, fatigue, and emotion to determine if a pilot will be safe to fly the mission they are supposed to fly (FAA, 2016, p. 49). If they are not capable of completing the mission then they must not fly that day.
Figure 1: OTC Medication Requirements (FAA, n.d.)
OTC medications can pose a threat to the illness and fatigue portions of the IMSAFE procedure. A lot of different OTC medications can cause drowsiness. This combined with the fatigue one feels when sick is a dangerous combination. The OTC medications that pose the most significant risk to UAS operators are ones that specifically state, “be careful when driving a motor vehicle or operating machinery" and "may cause drowsiness” (FAA, n.d.). This is because those have been previously determined to impair users. This level of fatigue can have a large impact on the user. The pilot may not even realize how fatigued they are until they have made a dangerous mistake. This fatigue wears on the decision-making process and can cause careless mistakes to occur.
The best way to mitigate this is to always pay close attention to the IMSAFE procedure before flying an event. If a pilot feels slightly fatigued, a small amount of caffeine may make them feel more alert or even a nap. The best way to mitigate human factors is to evaluate them early. If the day before an event, it is deemed that an IMSAFE event may occur, the pilot can try to go to bed earlier and get more rest. Avoiding alcohol and substances that can impair the pilot is also a great resource.
Most pilots will face some level of stress and fatigue throughout their careers. Fatigue can cause physical and psychological stress and deplete physical energy (FAA, 2016, p. 47). Acute fatigue also affects remote pilots. An adequate night’s sleep is the only way to prevent this issue from occurring. Stress is the body’s response to all of the demands put on it, both physical and psychological (FAA, 2016, p. 46). Acute and chronic stress can affect a remote pilot. Chronic stress becomes an intolerable burden that is not able to be coped with. More often for remote pilots, acute stress occurs. This is short term stress that is able to be coped with, and sometimes increases with fatigue. Having stress and fatigue puts the drone and remote operator at risk because it is easier to make simple mistakes when tired. The best thing a remote pilot can do, is make sure to know his or her body well to avoid fatigue and stress sneaking up on them.
References
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (2016). Remote Pilot - Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Study Guide. United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). FAA-G-8082-22. https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/media/remote_pilot_study_guide.pdf.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (n.d.). What Over-the-Counter (OTC) medications can I take and still be safe to fly? Federal Aviation Administration. https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/medical_certification/media/OTCMedicationsforPilots.pdf
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