AIRBUS FLY YOUR IDEAS 2026

Explainable RL for
Aviation Emergency Triage

When an engine fails at 35,000 ft, our RL-based co-pilot generates candidate recovery trajectories, scores each on safety, ethics, and survivability, then presents the pilot with a ranked, fully explainable decision. Not a black box. Every recommendation comes with a reason.

Real-Time Triage Multi-trajectory scoring under time pressure
Explainable AI Transparent reasoning aligned with EASA AI guidelines
Ethical Framework Population density, survivability & environment weighted
LIVE DEMONSTRATION

XRL Emergency Simulation

EMERGENCY ACTIVE
Flight XRL-01 Airbus A350-900 UTC 14:32:05

LIVE TELEMETRY

ALTITUDE 28,400 ft MSL ↓ 2,100 fpm
AIRSPEED 310 kts IAS ↓ decreasing
HDG 262°
PITCH -6.2°
ROLL 18.4°
G-LOAD 1.2g
ALTITUDE PROFILE
ENGINE 1 (TRENT XWB) RUNNING / N1: 94%
EGT 890°C
ENGINE 2 (TRENT XWB) FAILURE / OIL PRESSURE LOSS
N1: 0%
FUEL REMAINING
48,200 kg (45%)
ENERGY STATE
Total Energy 27.9 GJ
Glide Range 96.3 nm
ETSI: IN RANGE
EDDM: MARGINAL
4x SPEED
Flown Path
Option 1: Airport
Option 2: Divert
Predicted Impact

XRL RECOVERY OPTIONS

#2
Divert to Munich: EDDM Munich International Airport
ALTERNATE
61
Pax Safety
68
Ground Safety
95
Survivability
55
Ethical Score
60
AI Rationale: EDDM reachable but marginal at current descent rate. Approach over suburban areas increases ground risk. Longer runway. Full emergency services available.
#3
Controlled Field Landing Agricultural zone, low population
LAST RESORT
39
Pax Safety
24
Ground Safety
98
Survivability
15
Ethical Score
35
AI Rationale: Flat terrain with minimal structures. High structural damage probable. No civilian risk. Only viable if altitude loss exceeds recovery threshold for ETSI/EDDM approaches.
PFD AP1 | FD | A/THR
M 0.82 V/S 0 GEAR UP FLAPS 0
AERO-XRL ADVISORY
SYSTEM STANDBY Monitoring engine health telemetry
ND
N E S W
ETSI
EDDM
GS: 460ktsM: 0.82WIND: 220/12
XRL REASONING ENGINE LIVE
T+0.0sInitializing state observation vector...
PHYSICS ENGINE

Simulation Backend

Aerodynamic Modeling

Model6-DOF A350-900
Update Rate1000 Hz
EnvelopeFull V-n diagram

Failure Scenario Library

Failure ModesEngine, hydraulic, electrical
Severity Levels5 tiers (ICAO scale)
Scenario FocusSingle-engine emergency

Terrain & Population Data

Terrain30m SRTM
PopulationWorldPop 100m
Airport DBGlobal ICAO

Impact Energy Analysis

KE at M0.42.8 GJ critical
KE gear-down0.4 GJ survivable
StandardMIL-STD-1290A

Speed vs. Impact Energy

Survivable Zone Marginal Zone Non-Survivable Zone
TECHNOLOGY

Technology Stack

Deep Reinforcement Learning

PPO agents trained on custom flight-dynamics environments with reward decomposition for explainability

Custom Flight Environment

6-DOF aerodynamic model with configurable mechanical failure injection and terrain awareness

Interactive Demonstrator

Avionics-grade visualization prototype with Leaflet maps, Canvas PFD, and real-time telemetry rendering

Explainable AI (XAI)

Reward decomposition and saliency mapping to translate RL decisions into human-readable rationale

Python Scientific Stack

PyTorch, Stable-Baselines3, Gymnasium for environment design, training, and inference

Regulatory Alignment

Designed with EASA AI Roadmap 2.0 and FAA ethical AI guidelines as a certification target

AIRBUS FLY YOUR IDEAS 2026

Trustworthy AI
for the Cockpit

Making reinforcement learning transparent enough for safety-critical aviation decisions.

Replay Simulation