Risk identification and mitigations in advanced air mobility operations

Antoni Kopyt; Chad Stephens

doi:10.61089/aot2026.z4fb7v39

Authors

Antoni Kopyt Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1503-963X
Chad Stephens NASA, Langley Research Center, Crew Systems and Aviation Operations Branch, Hampton, VA, USA Author https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8718-063X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61089/aot2026.z4fb7v39

Keywords:

urban air mobility, risk assessment, risk mitigation, vertiports, airspace safety, air traffic management

Abstract

The following paper presents research aimed at identifying the most critical risks and their mitigations in Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations. This topic is one of aviation's most significant challenges in the coming decades. Having many flying vehicles in a single airspace requires an innovative approach, rule redefinition, and traffic management. Some solutions are scalable and can be adapted from general aviation. Therefore, stakeholders must address new risks and implement dedicated methods while maintaining the highest level of operational safety. Simulation research is needed to validate solutions before systems operate in real environments. The response to those challenges is the development of a simulation tool that can serve as a test benchmark. The study is divided into two sections: identifying potential risks associated with the rapidly growing UAV market and its applications in urban environments and developing a simulation tool that addresses various Urban Air Mobility challenges. A set of test cases is presented to demonstrate the tool’s functionality and capabilities for further analysis. The paper reviews the United States and European Union approaches to UAM integration, including NASA, FAA, SESAR, and EASA initiatives, and highlights differences in operational concepts and regulatory frameworks. The research identifies major categories of risks related to UAV operations, including technical failures, environmental hazards, human factors, and cybersecurity threats. Long-term challenges associated with increasing traffic density, autonomous operations, and airspace organization are also discussed. The research evaluates scalable safety solutions derived from commercial aviation and analyzes urban airspace concepts such as layers, zones, sky-lanes, and sky-corridors. The developed simulation environment, implemented for the Warsaw metropolitan area, enables modeling of large-scale UAV and VTOL operations, no-fly zones, vertiport hubs, and traffic distribution. The results demonstrate the importance of dedicated traffic structures, altitude separation, and decentralized traffic management systems in ensuring safe and efficient Urban Air Mobility operations.

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