Critical abilities required to the training of RPA MALE operators in the French Air Force : “working towards zero accidents in drones piloting“

International audienceThe current study focused on the use of the Harfang in the French Air Force. This Medium Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft (MALE RPA) is integrated in air traffic and is managed by a threespecialists crew: a RPA Pilot (RPA pilot), a Tactical Coordinator (TC) and an Imagery Analyst (IA). The quality of Situational Awareness (SA) at both individual and crew level is a determining factor for safety. We considered that building an optimal SA is strongly influenced by the development of competencies during training. As the training efficiency can be improved by an adapted selection of candidates, our study aimed to define the optimal profile of each Harfang specialist in order to select the best candidates' profile. A preliminary step was to compare the optimal profile (assessed by job analysis surveys) to the current profile of operators (assessed by psychological tests), to consider the efficiency of the training. Because candidates have not yet developed specific competencies, we made a comparison of profiles in terms of abilities. We identified cognitive and socio-emotional critical abilities which are required to the development of each Harfang specialist competencies. We adapted and applied the Fleishman Job Analysis Survey (F-JAS-Fleishman, Quaintance, & Broedling, 1984) to the whole population of Harfang operators (N = 30) who had to define the optimal profile of each specialist. Then we used visuospatial tests and personality inventory to assess the level of critical abilities identified with the F-JAS. Results showed global consensual optimal profiles for each Harfang specialist. This means that the population of operators identified the same critical abilities needed to become a competent operator. Results to visuospatial tests confirmed that operators required the critical abilities identified by the F-JAS. But, we observed some interindividual variability which may have an influence on the efficiency of training. A selection based on the assessment of critical abilities will reduce the interindividual variability and will facilitate the training standardisation. In fact, this standardisation is necessary to reduce the human error and then will improve safety