Oculometric Assessment of Human Risk Factors in Military Aviation

Aviation operations require clear visual perception and precise sensorimotor interaction with aircraft controls, which both vary with neurophysiological state. Operational risk management surveys for military aviation assay several categories of risk factors, including environmental, human, and mission factors. Several human risk factors, such as poor sleep and stress, have neurophysiological effects. Yet human risk factors are routinely self-reported by pilots, which can introduce uncertainty. We evaluated an objective, automated, eye-movement-based method to assess neurophysiological variability in military aircrews.

In a cross-sectional study of 72 members from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade representing RQ7B, AH64, CH47, and H60 airframe communities, we used a validated eye-movement-based "oculometric" assessment method to quantify performance on a visual motion tracking task as well as a brief survey to document demographic (e.g., age, military occupational specialty, airframe, flight hours) and operational risk management (e.g., sleep, stress, ops tempo, experience, currency) variables. From the task, 10 z-scored oculometric measures are computed, including a summary score.

We observed a significant effect of aircraft type on oculometric performance, with the H60 community performing above normal (median summary score: 0.59), as well as effects of sleep, stress, and experience. We observed significant positive correlations between oculometric scores and both age (Pearson's r: 0.31) and flight hours (Pearson's r: 0.30).

Some elements of human factors risk can be measured using eye-movement-based techniques. Automated eye-movement-based assessment tools can quantify neurophysiological state objectively, a potential alternative to self-report. Al-Husseini M, McGuire M, Kennedy Q, Belanger C, Liston D. Oculometric assessment of human risk factors in military aviation. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2025; 96(12):1056-1062.