Safety in military aviation is a high stakes game. Every year, on average, the USAF experiences 9.6 fatalities and 8.8 aircraft destroyed with total damages costing $547 million. While this may sound shocking, the number of fatalities and aircraft lost has been steadily declining since 1952, when there were 1,214 fatalities and 789 aircraft lost in one year. This downward trend continued until 2005, where it has stabilized and remained constant, despite numerous safety initiatives implemented during the past 15 years. This paper proposes that the USAF could lower fatality and destroyed aircraft rates by incorporating Virtual Reality (VR) headsets in the post mishap safety investigation process. Specifically, VR should be utilized to teach aircrew lessons from previous mishaps through the experiential learning method, allowing them to visualize mishap recreations in 3D virtual space. This paper will describe the current post mishap investigation process and analyze flight safety statistics focusing on common human factors. The Experiential Learning (EL) model will be examined, focusing on how VR can take advantage of this approach. Additionally, the paper will overview the characteristics of military flight simulators and what current efforts in VR are yielding for pilot training. Finally, proposals for research will be presented to hopefully to validate these initiatives.
Keywords
AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY (AR/VR),FLIGHT SIMULATION,FLIGHT TRAINING
Additional Keywords
aviation, safety, accident