Putting Risk Assessment in the Pilots’ Hands: Refining a Cognitive Health Assessment Tool for Aviators

Authors

Kathleen Van Benthem, Carleton University
Emily Larkin, Carleton University
Rawan Othman, Carleton University
Alexia Bierlaire, Carleton University
Chris M. Herdman, Carleton University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

Cognitive factors like poor situational awareness or memory failures can causeserious incidents, especially in single-crew operations. This work introducesCANFLY, an on-demand, self-administered online cognitive assessment for pilots,using realistic flight scenarios and interactive tasks. CANFLY targets key cognitivedomains for safe flight: situation awareness, prospective memory, and taskmanagement. Accessible from any internet-connected computer with speakers,CANFLY currently takes 50 minutes, but reducing this by 50 percent couldenhance user experience and adoption. Preliminary machine learning results from47 licensed pilots show that responses to short “flight” scenarios testing levels 1and 2 situational awareness and prospective memory can classify risk with over 80percent accuracy. Challenges and opportunities in using self-reported data (e.g.,incidents and mishaps) for risk classification are explored. This work aims to helppilots, screeners, and medical examiners make informed decisions about flightreadiness throughout a pilot’s career.

Comments

Presented at the 23rd International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, May 27-30, 2025, Hosted by Oregon State University

Repository Citation

Van Benthem, K., Larkin, E., Othman, R., Bierlaire, A., & Herdman, C. M. (2025). Putting Risk Assessment in the Pilots’ Hands: Refining a Cognitive Health Assessment Tool for Aviators. Proceedings of the 23rd International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, 36-41.
https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/isap_2025/7