An agent-based approach for accident analysis in safety critical domains: A case study on a runway incursion incident

Item does not contain fulltextThis paper introduces an agent-based approach to analyze the dynamics of accidents and incidents in aviation. The approach makes use of a number of elements, including formalization of a real world scenario, agent-based simulation of variations of the scenario, and formal verification of dynamic properties against the (empirical and simulated) scenarios. The scenario formalization part enables incident reconstruction and formal analysis of it. The simulation part enables the analyst to explore various hypothetical scenarios under different circumstances, with an emphasis on error related to human factors. The formal verification part enables the analyst to identify scenarios involving potential hazards, and to relate those hazards (via so-called interlevel relations) to inadequate behavior on the level of individual agents. The approach is illustrated by means of a case study on a runway incursion incident, and a number of advantages with respect to the current state-of-the-art are discussed.Transactions on Computational Collective Intelligence XVI