Aviation experts have developed a novel safety approach inspired by the human body’s natural defence mechanisms, potentially transforming how we protect increasingly complex air transportation systems from known and unknown risks.
A Science Blog article cites a review paper published in the journal Engineering, in which the researchers propose the “system-of-systems (SoS) safety” framework that draws inspiration from the human immune system to address emerging challenges in future air travel scenarios.
The paper notes that passenger traffic is projected to increase 4.3 percent annually over the next two decades, resulting in more than 200,000 daily flights by the mid-2030s. This growth brings unprecedented challenges, particularly with the emergence of urban air mobility (UAM) where flying taxis and delivery drones will be operating in densely populated areas.
Science Blog points to a Booz Allen Hamilton forecast that says UAM could generate up to 11 million daily trips under unconstrained scenarios, which is 244 times the United States Federal Aviation Administration’s current average daily flight volume.
“Lead author Daqing Li and colleagues analysed the evolution of aviation safety across four generations, noting that each new wave of technology initially led to higher accident rates before safety improvements followed,” the article states, with researchers calculating the number of daily accidents post-UAM adoption could reach 0.77, equating to two fatal accidents every three days.
The human immune system provides a layered approach to protection, which the researchers say could be adapted to increase air safety. According to the article, the first layer relies on regulatory constraints to prevent known risks, similar to physical barriers like skin preventing pathogens from entering the body. The second provides real-time monitoring and intelligent decision-making to address emerging threats, comparable to the body’s innate immune response. And the third layer focuses on identifying and understanding unknown risks through digital engineering and simulation, just as our adaptive immune system learns to recognise new threats.
This approach could be implemented in three phases over the coming decades. Phase one would focus on enhancing operational resilience through technologies like 5G air-to-ground communications and IoT sensors. Phase two would extend safety capabilities to the design process, while phase three aims to achieve full integration between design and operation through artificial intelligence.
Science Blog adds that several aviation organisations have already begun exploring resilience management approaches, including American Airlines, Lufthansa, Ryanair, and air traffic control providers like EUROCONTROL.
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