Development of Safety Metrics for Urban Air Mobility operations—The case of people transportation

The Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concept has gained a lot of attention from aviation experts globally. While this UAM concept is forecast to materialise over the next decade, there are aspects that dictate immediate action. This research aims to propose a new safety management framework for the UAM operations of people transportation and package delivery. The main gap is the missing safety metrics from Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operation safety management. In this paper, Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs) are proposed. These safety metrics are customised for every phase of UAS flight. Six distinct flight phases are analysed and safety metrics are proposed for each. Moreover, another interesting finding is linked to the increased level of automation which will be required by these types of operations. Finally, the concept of a Total Safety Performance indicator is proposed, derived from certain individual Safety Performance indicators. This assures a minimum level of Safety Performance, taking into account not only the UAS and its operator but also the performance of the involved stakeholders.