Closing our research project

The EASA-funded eMCO-SiPO research project (Extended Minimum Crew Operations – Single Pilot Operations Safety Risk Assessment Framework) concluded after intensive work from September 2022 to February 2025. The project explored the feasibility of reducing flight crew in large commercial aircraft, equipped with today’s cockpit technologies, and nevertheless while maintaining an equivalent level of safety.

The project

eMCO-SiPO developed a risk-assessment framework for Extended Minimum-Crew Operations (eMCO) and Single-Pilot Operations (SiPO), analysing safety hazards. Methods applied were digital surveys sent to stakeholders, literature surveys, workshops, and simulator experiments and delivering a set of results related to several topics, such as the effects of in-flight rest on pilot alertness and overall fatigue levels, opportunities for physiological breaks in eMCO and SiPO scenarios, and means to monitor pilot incapacitation.

The results

For more information about the eMCO-SiPO project and for future updates, we invite you to visit the dedicated page on the EASA website.