Second International Conference on Smart Systems and Inventive Technology (ICSSIT 2019)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP19P17-ART; ISBN:978-1-7281-2119-2
Reducing Commercial Aviation Fatalities
Using Support Vector Machines
Anupam Mishra
Electronics and Communication Engineering
CMR Institute of Technology
Bengaluru, India
anmi16ec@cmrit.ac.in
Anto Alex. B
Electronics and Communication Engineering
CMR Institute of Technology
Bengaluru, India
anab16ec@cmrit.ac.in
Abstract--Reducing commercial aviation fatalities is just
one of the complex problems that has been solving for business,
government, and military leaders for over 100 years. Through
devotion, candor, courage, and character,original solutions were
produced where there are no road maps. Most flight-related
fatalities stem from a loss of “airplane state awareness.” That is,
ineffective attention management on the part of pilots who may
be distracted, sleepy or in other dangerous cognitive states. This
work focuses on predicting one of these cognitive states, thereby
helping the pilot to manage the flight effectively. This work
applies machine learning algorithm, Support Vector Machine
(SVM) to predict the cognitive state of the pilot during flight.
Keywords – Aviation, Fatalities, SVM, EEG.
I. INTRODUCTION
Commercial Aviation Fatalities can be understood as the death
caused by Commercial Aviation accidents.
One of the causes of such accidents is the erroneous
decisions taken by the pilot, possibly when he/she is frustrated
or distracted or various other reasons [1] (Like the one that
took place in the previous year, "Because of the emotional
breakdown of the captain, the plane crash took place at Nepal's
International airport that killed 51 people which was found in
a leaked draft of the official investigation."[2].
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Kamal Krishna Shrivastava
Electronics and Communication Engineering
CMR Institute of Technology
Bengaluru, India
kakr16ec@cmrit.ac.in
Nasir Abdul Quadir
Electronics and Communication Engineering
CMR Institute of Technology
Bengaluru, India
abdul.n@cmrit.ac.in
Aviation safety initiatives are introduced in order to reduce
the rate of fatalities through air. Accident rates and their
trends are focused by ,many aviation safety organization
which is published in their annual reports [3][4]. In present
situation, the relative stability of the industry can be
considered as stressed by observing the increasing level of
congestion on airport sand skies. The growth rate of the fleets
are increasingly tremendously with number of flight traffic,
that is almost becoming double in every 15 years with
aviation industry and they have already planned to deliver
2000 new aircraft per year by the end of 2019.Trained
personnel like pilots, technicians, cabin crew and air traffic
controllers should also support this growth.
By looking at these trends, it can be said that the rate of
accident is directly proportional to the number of fleets flying
or the increase in activity. In layman terms it could be said that
more number of flights will result in more number of
accidents unless there are sum necessary steps taken to reduce
it.
With regards of navigation, changes in contribution of
aircraft, contact with air traffic control for take-off and landing,
congested airspace, degraded weather conditions are the flight
phases which are very complex in nature and place noteworthy
demands on the crew. Such contributing factors that can lead
to accidents are confluence of high work load and the
increased potential of unanticipated circumstances [5].
360
 Second International Conference on Smart Systems and Inventive Technology (ICSSIT 2019)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP19P17-ART; ISBN:978-1-7281-2119-2

Generally, in recent years, humans suffer from various

neurological disorders such as dementia, headache, brain
injuries, traumatic, epilepsy, strokes and non-epilepsy. The
pilots experienced distractions intended to induce one of the At first, A human brain is divided into 4 regions (Fig 2)
following four cognitive states:- namely:-
Frontal lobe (F)
a. Channelized Attention (CA) is, roughly speaking, the state Parietal lobe (P)
of being focused on one task to the exclusion of all others. Temporal lobe (T)
This is induced in bench marking by having the subjects play Occipital lobe (O)
an engaging puzzle-based video game.
b. Diverted Attention (DA) is the state of having one’s
attention diverted by actions or thought processes associated
with a decision. This is induced by having the subjects
perform a display monitoring task. Periodically, a math
problem showed up which had to be solved before returning to
the monitoring task.
c. Startle/Surprise (SS) is induced by having the subjects
watch movie clips with jump scares.
d. Baseline is being in a normal state.
It has been known that electrical charges of a human
brain are maintained by the billions of neurons. Such
individual neuron space produced very small electric potential
which is very difficult to be picked up by the EEG or MEG. Fig 2: Human brain
Summation of synchronous activities of millions of neurons
having similar spatial orientations are reflected by EEG
activity.
For EEG, 21 electrodes are placed on the scalp of human
In Electroencephalogram (EEG), normal and abnormal by system called 10-20 system i.e. the electrodes are placed at
activities are determined by the electrical signal of the brain 10% and 20% increments on the curves indicated as shown
which contains valuable information. Hence, alertness level below (Fig 3).
can be detected by analyzing the frequencies of sub bands. The nomenclature / naming given for these electrodes
We can take an example of detection of epileptic seizures represent respective position on scalp. We place odd
where we determine whether the person is suffering from number of electrodes on the left side of the brain and even
epilepsy or not. Similar kind of classification has been number of the right side of the brain. Smaller the number
performed in our proposed work [6]. closer is the position towards center.

For the decomposition of EEG into its sub bands a

discrete wavelet space transform (DWT) can be applied (Fig
1). For each sub bands we calculate statistical features energy
and co- variance. We applied support vector machine for
classification and got accuracy up to 95.5%.

The EEG images are extracted using Discrete Wavelet

Transform (DWT). DWT combined with DB4 are used.SVM
is the classifier used for the classification purposes and it
hyper plane the signals based on the threshold. Fig 3: Electrode position

Fig 4: Frequency domain spectrum of EEG

Fig 1: EEG frequency ranges

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 Second International Conference on Smart Systems and Inventive Technology (ICSSIT 2019)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP19P17-ART; ISBN:978-1-7281-2119-2
In earlier days, Fig 4 was used to determine the state of
a pilot. But, if the number of pilots undergoing EEG is around
5000 (say), then it is not possible to determine the state of all
these pilots at once and also it is time consuming to determine
state of one pilot at a time. Hence, this frequency is converted
from respective voltage levels as shown in following table.-
Measurement of Brain Waves
Rhythm Frequency(Hz) Amplitude(μV)
Alpha 8-13 20-200
Beta 13-30 5-10
Delta 1-5 20-200
Theta 4-8 10
To eradicate this issue:-
 We have build a model to detect troubling events from
aircrews physiological data, for which data acquired
from actual pilots in test situations, and our model will
be able to run calculations in real time to monitor the
cognitive states of pilots. With our help, pilots could
then be alerted when they enter a troubling state,
preventing accidents and saving lives.
 You are provided with real physiological data from
eighteen pilots who were subjected to various
distracting events. The benchmark training set is
comprised of a set of controlled experiments collected
in a non-flight environment, outside of a flight
simulator. The test set (abbreviated LOFT = Line
Oriented Flight Training) consists of a full flight (take
off, flight, and landing) in a flight simulator.
 For each experiment, a pair of pilots (each with its
own crew id) was recorded over time and subjected to
the CA, DA, or SS cognitive states. The training set
contains three experiments (one for each state) in
which the pilots experienced just one of the states. For
example, in the experiment = CA, the pilots were either
in a baseline state (no event) or the CA state.
II. METHODOLOGY
Fig 5: Representation of front-end and back-end of our
project.
The Back end of our project is the Machine Learning
model, comprising of mainly Model Training and Model
Prediction(Fig 5) [7]. Using the available dataset, the model
is trained based on an algorithm with certain accuracy. This
accuracy varies with different algorithms. However, it can
be increased by increasing the size of the dataset i.e. by
updating the dataset with more rows of data. Training in this
context, means developing a co-relation between the
dependent variable and independent variables creating a
model.pki file (Fig 5) which allows us to save the model for
later prediction. Lastly, for prediction, test data are fed to
the model whose predicted output almost matches with the
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expected output/ outcome.
The Front-end of our project is a user friendly static
web page, comprising of http API service block which
establishes a connection with the Back-end and also between
UI component (A platform through which user can enter the
values to be tested) and the web page displaying the status of
pilot’s mental health.
The processes involved in the proposed work are:-
1) EEG data collection:-
Real time values of EEG signals are obtained by
performing the EEG test on every pilot along skin moisture
value and respiratory rate of every pilot before boarding the
flight. These data is been stored in form of data set.
2)Data preprocessing:-
Data pre-processing is the first step in machine learning
which is highly important before applying any Machine
learning algorithms [8]. In this import, we import the final data
set generated, import necessary libraries, deal with missing data
and categorize them effectively, split the data set into training
set and test set in order to train and test them for effective
prediction and also apply feature scaling.
3)Feature extraction:-
When the size of the data set is large, it is suspected to be
redundant. Hence, this data set is transformed to a reduced set
of features by the help of feature selection. The selected
features are expected to have the relevant information from the
data set so that the desired task can be performed. Data
visualization is the representation of data for human
visualization which determines whether the data is linear or not.
4)Classification:-
Process of identifying the category to which a new data
will fall is known as classification. This is done with the help of
various classification algorithms like SVM, Xgboost, ANN etc.
In our proposed work, SVM classification algorithm is used.
5)Output:-
SVM algorithm then classifies the pilots into categories
based on their cognitive states as A, B, C and D as shown in
(Fig 6).
III. EXPERIMENTS
Data Generation :
Data used for analysis is taken is from a valid
sample data set of 400 pilots in order to train the Machine
Learning model in which each pilot was found to be
exhibiting one of the states mentioned in introduction section
depending on the voltage range of all EEG signals, respiratory
rate and sweat level [9]. Random data is being given within a
fixed range of values as test data for prediction.
Support Vector Machine Algorithm:
Machine learning is used to predict and classify
data using machine learning algorithms being employed
according to the data set. Some of the algorithms are SVM,
ANN, Xgboost etc. SVM is a classification algorithm which
can be trained to learn the relationship that exist between
input and output data including nonlinear and linear
relationship. This classifier algorithm is used to classify the
different classification of EEG signals [10].
This SVM classifier model technique mainly
classify data into two ways:-.
If data set is linear separable then it can classify the data by
using linear kernel function. By visualization of data set we
can check whether the data set is linear separable or non-linear
separable.
 Second International Conference on Smart Systems and Inventive Technology (ICSSIT 2019)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP19P17-ART; ISBN:978-1-7281-2119-2

i. If data set is non-linear separable then we have to use

Gaussian kernel function for the classification which is IV. FORMULA FOR SVM
provided by the SVM.

The dataset used for proposed work is found to be non Predicted Value:
linear. Hence Gaussian Kernel function is used for
classification (Fig 6). Consider two samples x and x1 to be Predict “y = 1” if ϴTf  0
feature vectors in some input space. The Gaussian Kernel Predict “y = 0” if ϴTf < 0
function f is defined as:-

 || x  x1 ||2 Training:
f ( x, x1)  exp( )
2 2 m
1 m T
min C y (i ) cost1 ( T f (i ) )  (1  y (i ) ) cost0 ( T f (i ) )  ( j M j )
i 1 2 j 1
||x-x1||² is the squared Euclidean distance between x and
f is a feature vector which is found by choosing a
x1, s is called free parameter. The Euclidean space of kernel
kernel function. We use a Gaussian Kernel for which:-
has infinite dimensions.
The range of Gaussian Kernel is between 0 and 1 and
decreases with distance. For s = 1, the expansion for f will be:- exp
 || x  x1||2 
(xT x1) j  || x ||2  || x1||2
exp( ) exp( ) exp( )
2 j 0 j! 2 2 V. RESULTS
The EEG signal is a graphic record of the
2 2 n1 nk 2 n1 nk direction and magnitude of the electrical activity that is
 || x  x1|| 
 || x || x ...xk  || x1|| x1 ...x1k
exp( )    exp( ) 1
exp( ) 1 generated by brain nerves. The signal at different frequency
2 j 0 ni  j 2 n1!..nk ! 2 n1!..nk ! bands is analyzed by the wavelet transformation. This can be
done by decomposing the signal into a coarse approximation
Detection of alertness level by visual scanning of EEG signal
is very time consuming and may be inaccurate, specifically
for long recordings. The detection of alertness level through
IV. FORMULA FOR SVM EEG signals is an important part in reducing commercial
aviation fatalities. When the Machine Learning model is
IV. FORMULA FOR SVM trained with a dataset of 400 pilots based on SVM Algorithm,
382 rows of data are observed to be predicted correctly while
the remaining 18 rows of data are observed to be predicted
incorrectly giving an accuracy of 95.5% which is found to
excellent compared to all other algorithms like ANN, Xgboost
etc (Fig 7). Hence, the test data fed to the user friendly static
web page is found to show the expected prediction. (Fig 8).

Fig 7: Training result

Fig 6: Gaussian Kernel function in SVM

Here f is chosen based on type of the kernel

function that we are using. In the formula (mentioned in the
next section) of the kernel SVM ϴ represents parameter.

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 Second International Conference on Smart Systems and Inventive Technology (ICSSIT 2019)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP19P17-ART; ISBN:978-1-7281-2119-2

sweat level, respiratory rate fed to the Machine Learning.

Looking upon this issue, machine learning techniques can be
applied to the EEG signals which can classify the mental state
of pilots in a very short duration of time and is possible before
every operation of the flight.
Through research the system can be built in order to
classify a pilot mainly into Channelized Attention, Diverted
Attention, Surprised. With the given data set, SVM algorithm
generates result with accuracy higher than any other
classification algorithms. Extended machine learning
techniques that can be used are Naive Bayes, Xgboost, ANN
(Artificial Neural Network), that can also result in effective
prediction.

VII. REFERENCE

[1] https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/13531/MA-Thesis-
LVDragomir.pdf
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-
47027742
[3] https://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/iata-
safety-reports/IATA-Safety-Report-2018.pdf
[4] https://isr.umd.edu/NEXTOR/pubs/RR-98-7.pdf
[5] https://skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/4342.pdf
[6] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284096
744_Epileptic_Seizure_Detection_of_EEG_Sign
als_based_on_Support_Vector_Machine_and_D
B4
[7] Shakhatreh, Hazim, Ahmad H. Sawalmeh, Ala
Al-Fuqaha, Zuochao Dou, Eyad Almaita, Issa
Khalil, Noor Shamsiah Othman, Abdallah
Khreishah, and Mohsen Guizani “Unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs): A survey on civil
applications and key research challenges” IEEE
Access 7 (2019): 48572-48634
[8] Kour,Ravdeep et al “Big Data Analytics for
Maintaining Transportation Systems”
Transportation Systems pp 73-91, Singapore
2019, Springer.
[9] https://www.kaggle.com/c/reducing-commercial-
aviation-fatalities
[10] Manus Ross,Corey A. Graves,John W.
Fig 8: User Friendly Static Web Page
Campbell,Jung Ho Kim (2013) Using Support
Vector Machines to Classify Student
Attentiveness for the Development of
VI. CONCLUSION
Personalized Learning Systems, Published in
12th International Conference on Machine
Learning and Applications.
In today’s world, medical fitness requirements change from [11] https://www.baatraining.com/the-aviation-
medical-exam-what-to-expect/
time to time. Every commercial pilot’s license holder is
obliged to have a Class-1 medical check every year. A
commander holding an airline transport pilot’s licence (ATPL)
and all pilots aged over 40 are obliged to have medical tests
twice a year [11].
For most people, the aviation medical exam is a piece
of cake. For others, it can be frustrating to wait for the waiver
process to be completed. But this is the part that must be
passed by each pilot. State or Baseline using the EEG signals,

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