Aeronautical decision-making and risk management
10 min readLesson 55 of 59
By the end of this lesson you'll be able to:
- Use PAVE and IMSAFE to assess risk
- Recognize the five hazardous attitudes and their antidotes
- Apply a simple decision-making model
Most accidents aren't caused by a lack of stick-and-rudder skill. They're caused by decisions. The FAA's term is aeronautical decision-making (ADM), and it's tested on both the written and the checkride.
IMSAFE: are you fit to fly?
- Illness
- Medication
- Stress
- Alcohol
- Fatigue
- Emotion (or Eating)
PAVE: the four risk elements
- Pilot: your experience, currency and IMSAFE.
- Aircraft: airworthy, right equipment, enough fuel, performance for the conditions.
- enVironment: weather, terrain, airports, airspace, night.
- External pressures: schedules, people waiting, wanting to impress someone. Often the most dangerous.
The five hazardous attitudes
| Attitude | Sounds like | Antidote |
|---|---|---|
| Anti-authority | "Don't tell me." | Follow the rules. They're usually right. |
| Impulsivity | "Do it quickly." | Not so fast. Think first. |
| Invulnerability | "It won't happen to me." | It could happen to me. |
| Macho | "I can do it." | Taking chances is foolish. |
| Resignation | "What's the use?" | I'm not helpless. I can make a difference. |
A simple decision model: the 3P
- Perceive the hazards.
- Process: evaluate the risk they create.
- Perform: act to reduce the risk, then repeat as things change.
The FAA also teaches the DECIDE model (Detect, Estimate, Choose, Identify, Do, Evaluate). Either works; the point is to make decisions on purpose, not by default.
Key takeaways
- IMSAFE for you; PAVE for the whole flight.
- Five hazardous attitudes: anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability, macho, resignation.
- Perceive, process, perform, then do it again.
What the examiner may ask
Practice answering out loud before you open each answer.
Give me an example of a hazardous attitude and its antidote.
For example, macho ('I can do it') and the antidote 'Taking chances is foolish'.
How do you use PAVE before a flight?
Check yourself (IMSAFE), the airplane, the environment (weather, terrain, airports) and external pressures, and manage each risk.
What would make you turn back during a flight?
Weather below personal minimums, a system problem, fatigue, or anything that increases risk beyond what you planned.
Common mistakes
- Letting a passenger's schedule push you into bad weather.
- Not having personal minimums written down.
- Continuing a plan just because you already started it (plan continuation bias).
Read it in the FAA sources
Lesson check
Get every question right to complete the lesson. Take your time; wrong answers explain why.
Something wrong or out of date? Report an error