System for Analyzing Flight-data to Enrich Mishap Awareness Training Tools and Enhance Readiness (SAFE-MATTERS)

Spatial disorientation (SD) and loss of situational awareness (SA) contribute to nearly a third of military aviation mishaps, posing a serious threat to military aircrews worldwide. Current approaches to mitigate mishaps due to SD and loss of SA traditionally focus on instructor-led classroom teaching that introduces aviation and sensory physiology. Naval Aviation Survival Training Center (NASTC) personnel require dedicated support to rapidly and intuitively recreate mishap events and distribute training materials based on these recreations into classrooms, providing students exposure to realistic mishaps in a controlled, simulated environment. To provide this support, we conducted a successful Phase I effort to demonstrate a System for Analyzing Flight-data to Enrich Mishap Awareness Training Tools to Enhance Readiness (SAFE-MATTERS). Based on our accomplishments, we propose a Phase II effort to continue to develop and evaluate SAFE-MATTERS. SAFE-MATTERS provides training support via three components: (1) a library of contributing environment, aircraft, mission, and pilot factors to provide the necessary contextual framing; (2) an intuitive simulator engine user interface to enable rapid mishap scenario authoring and customization; and (3) an application that supports the creation, annotation, and distribution of training materials.