AI Safety Aviation

Roadmap Overview

FOCUS: Flight Operational Companion for Unexpected Situations

FOCUS is an advanced, AI-driven assistant designed to help commercial pilots manage sudden and surprising events within the cockpit. In high-stress situations, pilots may experience natural “freeze” reactions, delayed responses, or unintended inputs, which can compromise safety and increase risk. FOCUS has been designed to address this challenge by monitoring for signs of such startling events in aircraft readings and pilot biometrics. After detection, FOCUS will provide real-time guidance to help pilots quickly regain situational control. Through intuitive, timely interventions, FOCUS enhances flight safety by enabling pilots to confidently navigate complex and unexpected scenarios. This technology roadmap outlines the developmental path for FOCUS, highlighting its role in advancing safety, reducing operational risks, and supporting pilots with reliable, real-time assistance.

Design Structure Matrix (DSM) Allocation

Roadmap OPD

Figures of Merit

Important FOMs for 3AISC

Figure of Merit	Description	Trends	Units
Incident Rate	Rate of incidents and accidents normalized by flight time aircraft	decreasing	$\frac{\text{incidents}}{\text{passenger mile}}$
System Maintainability	How much time is spend maintaining aircraft systems, measured by comparing maintenance time per flight time	decreasing	$\frac{\text{maintenance hours}}{\text{passenger mile}}$
Response Time	Time required to identify and mitigate safety issues	flat	$\text{minutes}$
System Uptime	Amount of time aircraft is available to be dispatched on a mission as a percentage of wall time	increasing	$\text{\%}$
Cognitive Load on Crew	As measured by industry standard NASA TLX score	flat	$\text{unitless}$

Detail of Accidents per passenger hour