Authors :
Imane Ouchen; Mohammed Ben Abdellah
Volume/Issue :
Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 2 - February
Google Scholar :
https://tinyurl.com/567natbb
Scribd :
https://tinyurl.com/47abt2tp
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26feb495
Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.
Abstract :
As aircraft systems become increasingly interconnected, cybersecurity has emerged as a critical challenge for
aviation safety. While extensive technical and organizational measures protect aeronautical systems, limited attention has been
paid to the operational role of pilots when cyber threats occur during flight. Existing training programs emphasize
conventional failures and provide limited guidance for managing cyber-related anomalies.
This paper proposes a two-step, human-centered decision-support framework designed to assist pilots in managing inflight cyber incidents. The approach combines a large language model capable of interpreting natural language descriptions of
anomalies with a structured, flowchart-based decision process aligned with aviation procedures. The objective is to support,
rather than automate, pilot decision-making under high cognitive workload. Qualitative results from scenario-based
simulations with professional pilots indicate improvements in threat identification, decision consistency, and crew
coordination. The findings highlight the importance of integrating cybersecurity into pilot training and operational decisionmaking to enhance human resilience in increasingly digital aviation environments.
Keywords :
Aviation Cybersecurity; Human Factors; Decision Support Systems; Crew Resource Management; In-Flight Cyber Incidents; Safety-Critical Systems.
References :
- Aviation Cybersecurity & GNSS Threats
- Kerns, A.J., Shepard, D.P., Bhatti, J.A., Humphreys, T.E. (2014). Unmanned aircraft capture and control via GPS spoofing. Journal of Field Robotics, 31(4), 617–636.
- Humphreys, T.E. (2019). Detection strategy for cryptographic GNSS anti-spoofing. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 55(2), 933–946.
- McCallie, D., Butts, J., Mills, R. (2011). Security analysis of the ADS-B implementation. International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, 4(2), 78–87.
- Sampson, R., Smith, J. (2020). Cyber threats to civil aviation: Emerging risks and mitigation strategies. Aerospace, 7(10), 145.
- Human factors, CRM & Situation Awareness
- Endsley, M.R. (1995). Toward a theory of situation awareness in dynamic systems. Human Factors, 37(1), 32–64.
- Salmon, P.M., Stanton, N.A., Walker, G.H. (2018). Situation awareness measurement: A review. Safety Science, 105, 238–247.
- Flin, R., O’Connor, P., Crichton, M. (2008). Safety at the sharp end: A guide to non-technical skills. Ashgate.
- Helmreich, R.L., Merritt, A.C. (2017). Culture at work in aviation and medicine. Routledge.
- Dekker, S. (2014). The Field Guide to Human Error. CRC Press.
- Decision-Making Under Uncertainty & Safety Science
- Hollnagel, E. (2018). Safety-I and Safety-II: The past and future of safety management. Ashgate.
- Reason, J. (1997). Managing the risks of organizational accidents. Ashgate.
- Woods, D.D., Hollnagel, E. (2006). Joint cognitive systems: Patterns in cognitive systems engineering. CRC Press.
- AI & Decision-Support Systems (Human-Centered AI)
- Amershi, S., et al. (2019). Guidelines for human-AI interaction. Proceedings of CHI, ACM.
- Shneiderman, B. (2020). Human-centered artificial intelligence: Reliable, safe & trustworthy. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 36(6), 495–504.
- Rahwan, I., et al. (2019). Machine behaviour. Nature, 568, 477–486.
- Gunning, D., Aha, D. (2019). DARPA’s Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) program. AI Magazine, 40(2), 44–58.
- Aviation Decision-Support & Cyber-Physical Systems
- Kontogiannis, T. (2021). Safety and resilience engineering in aviation. Safety Science, 134, 105050.
- Li, W.C., Harris, D., Yu, C.S. (2008). Routes to failure: Analysis of 41 civil aviation accidents. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 40(2), 426–434.
- Kopardekar, P., et al. (2016). Unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM). NASA Technical Report.
- Man, Y., et al. (2020). Cyber-physical systems safety: A systematic review. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 202, 107055.
- Cyber Resilience & Training
- Linkov, I., Trump, B.D. (2019). The science and practice of resilience. Springer.
- Boyes, H., Isbell, R., Watson, T. (2021). Cybersecurity for safety-critical systems. Safety, 7(2), 35.
- ICAO (2022). Cybersecurity in civil aviation. ICAO Doc 9985.
As aircraft systems become increasingly interconnected, cybersecurity has emerged as a critical challenge for
aviation safety. While extensive technical and organizational measures protect aeronautical systems, limited attention has been
paid to the operational role of pilots when cyber threats occur during flight. Existing training programs emphasize
conventional failures and provide limited guidance for managing cyber-related anomalies.
This paper proposes a two-step, human-centered decision-support framework designed to assist pilots in managing inflight cyber incidents. The approach combines a large language model capable of interpreting natural language descriptions of
anomalies with a structured, flowchart-based decision process aligned with aviation procedures. The objective is to support,
rather than automate, pilot decision-making under high cognitive workload. Qualitative results from scenario-based
simulations with professional pilots indicate improvements in threat identification, decision consistency, and crew
coordination. The findings highlight the importance of integrating cybersecurity into pilot training and operational decisionmaking to enhance human resilience in increasingly digital aviation environments.
Keywords :
Aviation Cybersecurity; Human Factors; Decision Support Systems; Crew Resource Management; In-Flight Cyber Incidents; Safety-Critical Systems.