FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-21/21

Title and Subtitle: Literature Review and Annotated Bibliography (1990 - 2019): Duty Time, Shift Work, and Operator Fatigue for Consideration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Air Carrier Operations

Report Date: July 2020

Authors: Durham JD, Mofle TC, Nesmith BL, Hu P, Fercho KA, Nesthus TE

Abstract: There is a rapidly increasing interest in the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for commercial operations.Title 14 of the Code of Federal Aviation Regulation (14 CFR) Part 121 and 135 do not take into consideration air carrier operations with small UAS (sUAS), and Part 107 mandates a maximum weight limit for sUAS. UAS exceeding this weight limit are not permitted in civil operations unless directly involved in military operations or granted a waiver by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

This literature review and annotated bibliography is an effort to consolidate and centralize the duty time, shift work, and fatigue literature to inform future policy and regulation concerning UAS operators in air carrier operations. It encompasses a selection of literature regarding duty time, shift work, fatigue, and fatigue risk management related to both unmanned and manned operations from 1990 to 2019. Also discussed are human factors (HF) and ergonomics considerations that may affect operator experiences of fatigue. Articles searched were from PsychINFO, Google Scholar, and FAA Technical Library databases using keywords related to unmanned and air carrier operations and fatigue. In addition, forward searches using the Google Scholar 'cited by' feature helped identify additional literature relevant to the topic. One hundred and five articles (59 literature reviews/organization guidelines, 46 empirical studies) discussed duty time, shift work, and fatigue in unmanned and manned operations.

The associated annotated bibliography structured the research literature into three primary sections (Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Manned Operations, and U.S. Military Pilot Duty Time Regulations) with relevant subheadings. Duty time, shift work, and fatigue have been extensively researched in manned operations, but less so in unmanned operations. Duty time, shift work, and fatigue in UAS have been primarily investigated in military aviation and maritime operations, while research outside of those two types of operations has focused more generally on how humans interact with an unmanned system.

This highlights the need for further duty time, shift work, and fatigue research in UAS operations, as well as the need for additional consideration to UAS definitions and classification standards and UAS integration into the National Airspace System (NAS) to minimize risk and maximize operational safety to people and property. This research task is provided in conjunction with a broader research portfolio supporting the FAA's efforts to inform future policy and regulation on duty time, shift work and fatigue in UAS air carrier operations.

Key Words: unmanned aircraft systems, duty time, shift work, operator fatigue, air carrier operations, human factors, pilot flight duty

No. of Pages: 70