AI as an Aviation Safety Decision Maker
Abstract
Artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving from an analytical support technology into an active participant in aviation safety decision-making. This paper examines how Safety Management Systems (SMS) must evolve as AI increasingly recommends or executes safety-critical operational decisions within aircraft operations, air traffic management, maintenance, dispatch, and organizational safety processes. Particular attention is given to automation bias, explainability, human override authority, accountability, AI-generated hazards, operational design domains, and continuous safety assurance. The study examines developments involving the FAA, EASA, Airbus, the United States military, and DARPA, while also addressing legal and civil implications arising from shared human–AI decision authority. It argues that future SMS frameworks must treat AI simultaneously as a safety tool, decision-making participant, potential hazard source, and safety control. Successful integration will require explicit authority boundaries, explainable and reconstructable decisions, continuous operational monitoring, enforceable safety constraints, and preservation of human and organizational accountability.
