A uav pilot reported that he allowed a non qualified person to sit in the left pilot seat during a m...

Narrative:

I was flying a uav on a 4.2 hour flight. The test points were completed and we were building time on the aircraft. We were in preprogramming mode; where the aircraft flies along predetermined waypoints. When the last waypoint is reached; the aircraft reenters the first waypoint and flies another lap of the preprogram waypoints. Around XA00; we had been flying the preprogramed mission for about an hour with no issues. There is a two person crew. The left seat is the pilot seat and the right seat is a sensor operator who operates the payload. The sensor operator was reading a regulatory document; when I decided I wanted to move the payload. When we fly overseas; the pilot will occasionally cover both the left seat and the right seat when the sensor operator steps out for a few minutes to use the bathroom or get meals for the aircrew. I had a lapse in judgment and didn't think that this could be an issue when flying at home in public use airspace. In certain instances uav's are flown with only one aircrew member; but this was not authorized on this flight. I switched seats with the sensor operator in the right seat for several seconds and moved the payload. The sensor operator sat down in the left seat. I then stood up to move back to the left seat when another pilot stepped in the ground control station (cockpit) and took over the left seat. The flight was finished without incident; however in hindsight I should not have switched seats with a non-pilot which is unauthorized. I need to break out of my single pilot mindset whenever a two person crew is required and focus only on flying the aircraft. Even when flying in preprogram mode the pilot needs to remain vigilant and ready to react to any traffic advisory or emergency.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A UAV pilot reported that he allowed a non qualified person to sit in the left pilot seat during a mission on which a qualified pilot and sensor operator were required in both of their respective seats.

Narrative: I was flying a UAV on a 4.2 hour flight. The test points were completed and we were building time on the aircraft. We were in preprogramming mode; where the aircraft flies along predetermined waypoints. When the last waypoint is reached; the aircraft reenters the first waypoint and flies another lap of the preprogram waypoints. Around XA00; we had been flying the preprogramed mission for about an hour with no issues. There is a two person crew. The left seat is the pilot seat and the right seat is a sensor operator who operates the payload. The sensor operator was reading a regulatory document; when I decided I wanted to move the payload. When we fly overseas; the pilot will occasionally cover both the left seat and the right seat when the sensor operator steps out for a few minutes to use the bathroom or get meals for the aircrew. I had a lapse in judgment and didn't think that this could be an issue when flying at home in public use airspace. In certain instances UAV's are flown with only one aircrew member; but this was not authorized on this flight. I switched seats with the sensor operator in the right seat for several seconds and moved the payload. The sensor operator sat down in the left seat. I then stood up to move back to the left seat when another pilot stepped in the ground control station (cockpit) and took over the left seat. The flight was finished without incident; however in hindsight I should not have switched seats with a non-pilot which is unauthorized. I need to break out of my single pilot mindset whenever a two person crew is required and focus only on flying the aircraft. Even when flying in preprogram mode the pilot needs to remain vigilant and ready to react to any traffic advisory or emergency.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	879418
Time
Date	201003
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	UAV - Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Other COA
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 500
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A uav pilot reported that he allowed a non qualified person to sit in the left pilot seat during a mission on which a qualified pilot and sensor operator were required in both of their respective seats.