The last 15 years have seen a large uptick in the use of unmanned aircraft. However, the current safety of flight clearances for unmanned aircraft requires a qualified operator who can make decisions and ultimately bear the responsibly for the safe operations of the vehicle. The future of aviation is unmanned, and ultimately autonomous. Yet, a clear path for certifying an autonomous vehicle to make decisions currently reserved for qualified pilots does not exist. This paper presents a preliminary approach for certifying an autonomous controller to select an appropriate landing site for a large rotorcraft in an unprepared landing zone. In particular, this paper will decompose the steps currently used by qualified pilots to the basic requirements to define an envelope where the vehicle will be allowed to operate autonomously while landing. These requirements are the basis for a specification that we examine to ensure it met the requirements. A protocol is developed based on the analyzed specification that will ensure what the vehicle “will not do” while operating autonomously. Finally, we describe how this protocol can be used as the safety of flight evidence, and eventually for clearing an autonomous controller to complete a task reserved for qualified pilots.

在过去的15年中，无人驾驶飞机的使用量大幅增加。但是，当前无人驾驶飞机飞行许可的安全性要求合格的操作员能够做出决定，并最终对车辆的安全运行承担责任。航空的未来是无人驾驶的，并且最终是自主的。然而，目前尚不存在用于证明自动驾驶汽车做出目前保留给合格飞行员的决定的明确途径。本文提出了一种初步方法，用于认证自主控制器，以为未准备好的着陆区中的大型旋翼飞机选择合适的着陆点。特别是，本文将把合格飞行员当前使用的步骤分解为基本要求，以定义一个允许车辆着陆时自主运行的包络线。这些要求是我们检查以确保符合要求的规范的基础。根据所分析的规范开发了一个协议，该协议将确保车辆在自主运行时“不会”做什么。最后，我们描述了如何将该协议用作飞行证据的安全性，并最终用于清除自主控制器以完成为合格飞行员保留的任务。