A Survey of eVTOL Aircraft and AAM Operation Hazards
Ellis L. Thompson, Abenezer G. Taye, Wei Guo, Peng Wei, Marcos Quiñones-Grueiro, Ahmed Ibrahim, Gautam Biswas, Jesse Quattrociocchi, Steven Carr, Ufuk Topcu, James C. Peyton Jones, Marc Brittain
Abstract
View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-3539.vid In this research, we have identified and surveyed three categories of hazards for advanced air mobility (AAM): (i) adverse weather with a special focus on winds, (ii) eVTOL vehicle and component level faults/degradation, and (iii) AAM corridor incursion by non-cooperative aircraft. While these categories of hazards may be independent of one another as first order effects, their collective impact on safety is also an important factor. This paper is the first publication from the NASA funded project named “Demonstration of the In-Time Learning- Based Safety Management for Scalable Heterogeneous AAM Operations”. Our research team proposes the design, development and demonstration of an in-time learning-based aviation safety management system (ILASMS) for scalable heterogeneous AAM operations. This survey paper will identify possible hazards that will define the function groups design requirements and specifications. We will perform system validation and scenario demonstrations with use case simulations and sub-scale flight tests.