Operational Risk Management

Operational Risk Management

The Fury 1500 was originally designed and built by AeroMech Engineering in San Luis Obispo CA, but the company was subsequently bought out by Chandler in 2009, and again by Lockheed Martin in 2012. The Fury is a small tactical Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) designed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. The Fury boast a maximum altitude of 18,000 feet, while providing real time intelligence data for a maximum flight/loiter time of 16 hours (Kable Intelligence Limited, n.d.). Fury 1500 can be launched on land or shipboard, using a pneumatic launcher, and is recovered either with the use of a net recovery system or water connectors for water recovery (Tarantola, 2014). With the capability of both Line of Sight (LOS) and Beyond Line of Sight) BLOS) operations, the Fury 1500 is capable of expeditionary operations utilizing an Expeditionary Ground Control Station (xGCS) built form commercial off the shelf components (Hemmerdinger, 2014).

Preliminary Hazard List/Preliminary Hazard Analysis PHL/PHA for flight stage-

Ø  The first item on the hazard list is environmental conditions. The risk probability of this is moderate (depending on operating environment), and the severity would be moderate as well. Link can be lost, or there can be damage to the UAS during operations.

-To mitigate this risk, weather inputs should be reviewed prior to and during flight planning, and mission abortion should be considered for unacceptable operating conditions.

Ø  The second item on the hazard list is lost data link. The risk probability of this is moderate (depending on operating environment), and the severity would be severe.

-To mitigate this risk, redundant link systems should be considered as long as the weight requirements are not exceeded.  Additional training and procedure reviews should be accomplished to ensure operational control does not contribute to this condition.

Ø  The third item on the hazard list is crew member disorientation. The risk probability of this is low (depending on operating environment), and the severity would be moderate.

-To mitigate this risk, additional training, improved instrumentation and enhanced interactive displays, wider frame and additional cameras and sensors as ground station control layout and lighting awareness are all methods to help combat disorientation.

Operational Hazard Review and Analysis (OHR&A)

Ø  The first item on the hazard list is environmental conditions. The action review for this hazard has changed the risk probability level to low, and the severity remains moderate.

-To further mitigate this risk, operational environments and unique hazards experienced in these environments should be information passed on to and reviewed by crew members.

Ø  The second item on the hazard list is lost data link. The risk probability of this remains moderate, and the severity remains severe.

-To further mitigate this hazard, operational conditions should be observed and evaluated prior to mission start. 

Ø  The third item on the hazard list is crew member disorientation. The risk probability of this remains low, and the severity remains moderate.

-To further mitigate this risk, reviews of the effectiveness of corrective actions and procedures should continue.

The finished risk assessment tool would be similar to the one identified in figure 8.3 in Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems, identifying the planning/operational stages and flight segments, as well as the varying previously identified risks and hazards developed in the PHL/A and OHR&A (Barnhart, Shappee & Marshall, 2011). The risk assessment helps to identify operational conditions are acceptable and identified hazards have been reviewed and considered prior to flight. Each item will be numerically ranked as to the risk involved, and operation crews will complete prior to flight, and management and safety personnel will be able to  utilize to verify safety conditions and personnel awareness. 

References

Barnhart, Richard K., Shappee, Eric, and Marshall, Douglas M.. Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems. London, GBR: CRC Press, 2011. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 1 March 2015.

Hemmerdinger, J. (2014, May 13). AUVSI: Lockheed integrates xGCS with Fury UAV - 5/13/2014 - Flight Global. Retrieved from http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/auvsi-lockheed-integrates-xgcs-with-fury-uav-399069/

Tarantola, A. (2014, May 16). This Furious High-Flying Drone Can Spy Overhead For 15 Hours. Retrieved from http://gizmodo.com/this-furious-high-flying-drone-can-spy-overhead-for-15-