Assessment of psychophysiological and psychological profiles of pilots to enhance their professional reliability

Introduction. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to develop modern methodological approaches to enhancing the professional reliability of pilots performing flights on Russian‑made aircraft in various regions of the world.

Objective. To comprehensively assess the psychophysiological and psychological characteristics of pilots and pilot cadets in order to identify qualities associated with successful military-professional performance.

Materials and methods. The study involved 24 instructor pilots from a training aviation regiment (mean age 28.9 ± 3.2 years, mean flight hours — 576.9 ± 455.9 h) and 11 second‑year pilot cadets from Southeast Asia (SEA) (mean age 23.8 ± 1.6 years, mean flight hours — 85.5  ±  27.4  h). Heart rate variability assessment was performed by means of variational cardiointervalography using the hardware‑software system “VNS‑Ritm”. Psychophysiological parameters (simple sensorimotor reaction, reaction to a moving object, critical flicker fusion frequency, complex sensorimotor reaction) were determined using the hardware‑software system “NS‑PsychoTest” (Neurosoft); attention characteristics — using the black‑red Schulte–Platonov tables. In addition, a psychological assessment was performed using the methods “Coordinates”, “Landolt Rings”, “Number‑Letter Combinations”, the questionnaires “MLO‑Adaptivity”, Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), and “Communication and Organizational Skills”. Mathematical and statistical processing of the obtained data was performed in IBM SPSS Statistics 12.

Results. A comparative analysis of psychological, psychophysiological, and physiological parameters between cadets and pilots was performed. A hierarchy of professional activity motives was identified: service to the country was prioritized by 91.7% of pilots and 81.8% of cadets; cadets were more oriented toward material stability (90.9%). In the assessment of psychophysiological parameters, pilots, compared to cadets, showed a significantly higher critical flicker fusion frequency (45.0 and 40.7 Hz, p = 0.013, respectively) and organizational skills (15 and 13 points, p = 0.047, respectively), as well as more pronounced parasympathetic regulation of heart rate (p ≤ 0.05). Significant correlations were recorded between total flight hours and heart rate variability (r = -0.475; p ≤ 0.01) and between simulator training performance and vagosympathetic balance (r = 0.401; p ≤ 0.05).

Conclusions. The study established that the successful performance of flight activity is determined by not only baseline intellectual parameters but also psychophysiological qualities, such as high parasympathetic regulation of heart rate, speed of visuomotor responses, attention stability, and spatial thinking ability. These qualities change over the course of professional activity, which confirms the need for their targeted development and consideration in professional psychological selection and flight training systems.

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