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Main Authors: Elizebeth, Mariat James, Chen, Shufeng, Badaoui, Halima El, Khastgir, Siddartha, Jennings, Paul
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.09283
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author Elizebeth, Mariat James
Chen, Shufeng
Badaoui, Halima El
Khastgir, Siddartha
Jennings, Paul
author_facet Elizebeth, Mariat James
Chen, Shufeng
Badaoui, Halima El
Khastgir, Siddartha
Jennings, Paul
contents Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft are expected to be quieter and more cost-effective than helicopters, offering major economic and social benefits through improved connectivity. Their adoption will require new ground infrastructure and airspace redesign, introducing risks involving multiple stakeholders (Regulators, eVTOL operators, Air navigation service providers, Vertiport operators, OEMs, Pilots, etc.). To assess these risks for the UK airspace, systems-thinking based System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) was conducted. To manage the large number of Unsafe Control Actions (UCAs) and requirements generated due to the complexity of the analysis, a novel extension to STPA for the prioritization of results was applied. 317 UCAs were identified in total out of which 110 high-priority UCAs were analyzed (Step-4), resulting in 377 causal factors and 432 requirements. These were prioritized to produce a targeted list of 124 distinct high-priority requirements, 56 of which were identified as gaps in existing aviation regulations, policies, or procedures.. These highlight opportunities for regulatory updates in areas such as organizational performance, certification processes, training, collision avoidance, energy management, and automation. The findings provide regulators with safety considerations that could shape new or updated regulations, compliance methods, and guidance materials for the safe deployment of eVTOLs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_09283
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Safety Analysis of eVTOL Operations based on STPA
Elizebeth, Mariat James
Chen, Shufeng
Badaoui, Halima El
Khastgir, Siddartha
Jennings, Paul
Systems and Control
Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft are expected to be quieter and more cost-effective than helicopters, offering major economic and social benefits through improved connectivity. Their adoption will require new ground infrastructure and airspace redesign, introducing risks involving multiple stakeholders (Regulators, eVTOL operators, Air navigation service providers, Vertiport operators, OEMs, Pilots, etc.). To assess these risks for the UK airspace, systems-thinking based System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) was conducted. To manage the large number of Unsafe Control Actions (UCAs) and requirements generated due to the complexity of the analysis, a novel extension to STPA for the prioritization of results was applied. 317 UCAs were identified in total out of which 110 high-priority UCAs were analyzed (Step-4), resulting in 377 causal factors and 432 requirements. These were prioritized to produce a targeted list of 124 distinct high-priority requirements, 56 of which were identified as gaps in existing aviation regulations, policies, or procedures.. These highlight opportunities for regulatory updates in areas such as organizational performance, certification processes, training, collision avoidance, energy management, and automation. The findings provide regulators with safety considerations that could shape new or updated regulations, compliance methods, and guidance materials for the safe deployment of eVTOLs.
title Safety Analysis of eVTOL Operations based on STPA
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.09283