AF 202
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Objectives

Intro

Decision Making
 Risk Assessment
 Hazardous Attitudes
 Hazard Detection
 DECIDE model
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ADM
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Aeronautical Decision Making
 A systematic approach to risk
assessment and stress management
 Helps us understand how personal attitudes
influence decision making
 Helps us see how we can modify those
attutudes
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ADM

Progress is being made to improve
aircraft equipment and systems along
with pilot services.

However the human factor of flight
remains the same

80% of all aviation accidents are
attributed to the human factor
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Percentage of Accidents
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Judgment

The FAA believes that good judgment is
something you can be taught not just a
by-product of experience
Do you think it is possible to be taught
good judgment?
 If so, what can prevent someone from
being taught good judgment?

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Decision Making

How to improve your decision making
 Identify personal attitudes hazardous to safe
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flying
Learn behavior modification techniques
Learning how to recognize and cope with
stress
Developing risk assessment skills
Having the ability to evaluate your ADM
skills (self honesty)
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Risk Assessment

The two defining elements of ADM are
hazard and risk

Hazard being the condition, event or
circumstance encountered

Risk is the assessment of the
seriousness of that hazard
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Risk Assessment

Pilots can come to different
assessments of the same hazard
 Pilot experience
 Pilot training
 Pilot attitude

It is not a guarantee that a, say, less
experienced pilot will always underasses a hazard. The pilot could think it
more serious than it really is
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Hazardous Attitudes
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One of the first risks is pilot attitude
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The FAA groups 5 hazardous attitudes
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Hazardous attitudes are not as easily
dealt with by just reading a book. WHY?
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Hazardous Attitudes
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Some of these attitudes may be
temporary due to a ‘bad day’
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However much of the danger behind
hazardous attitudes is because they can
be rooted in our mentality, personality,
and cultural influence

This makes identification very personal
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Hazardous Attitude
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Anti – Authority
 Don’t like anyone telling you what to do
 Thinks the rules are silly or unnecessary
 You always question authority
 Subtly can be present simply by the easy
lack of respect of persons in authority
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Hazardous Attitudes

Risk
 Ignore rules meant for safety or reasons that
you may not know about
 Won’t take seriously the lessons or wisdom
taught by those in authority which could help
you in the end

In reality, if it doesn’t kill you or get you
in trouble, it will probably get you fired
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Hazardous Attitude
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Impulsivity
 Impulsive shopping may leave you with
credit card debt, but impulsive flying could
leave you DEAD!
 Reacting to situations without thinking about
them
 Assessment of the seriousness of the risk is
usually wrong
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Hazardous Attitudes

Risk
 If you over-react to a non-serious risk you
could make a non-serious situation more
serious
 Improper assessment could lead you to the
wrong action for the situation
 You basically are ignoring what you have
been taught. All wisdom goes out the
window
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Hazardous Attitudes
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Invulnerability
 False sense of security
 All that ‘stuff’ happens to other people
 Could be an over estimation of your ability
○ “It happens to them because they’re idiots”
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Hazardous Attitudes
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Risk
 Too relaxed on procedures and
precautionary actions (i.e. clearing turns,
position reporting)
 Not fully prepared when a situation actually
does happen to you
 A better chance you’ll take more foolish risks
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Hazardous Attitudes
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Macho
 The pilot disease
 Prove yourself to others or just to get
attention (or impress a girl so you can have
a valentines date)
 Think you need to be better than everyone
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Hazardous Attitudes

Risk
 You do stupid stuff!!
 The desire to be better, to be liked, to
impress, to be recognized, to be applauded
by other people can be stronger than your
reason if left unchecked
 It can backfire on you quick
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Hazardous Attitudes
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Resignation
 Give up because “what’s the use? I can’t
make a difference.”
 It’s all based on luck, karma, the alignment
of the stars anyway
 Leave the response to the situation up to
others
 You don’t question others when you should
just because you are a ‘nice guy.’
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Hazardous Attitudes

Risk
 A fixable situation never gets fixed
 Other people do things they shouldn’t
because you were to ‘nice’ to confront them
 You are really an ineffective pilot because
the majority of training is not so you can stay
level, but deal with hazardous situation.
○ After all a computer can stay level so why do
we need you?
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Operational Pitfalls

Honestly, though most issues are not
able to be summed up by 5 attitudes
and many issues are a combination of
them

Operational pitfalls are classic
behavioral traps which pilots often fall
into (Can you see which hazardous
attitudes come into play?)
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Operational Pitfalls
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Peer Pressure
 An emotional response to what others think
about you
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Mind Set
 Inability to recognize or cope with changes
that are different from anticipated or planned
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Operational Pitfalls
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Get-There-Itis
 Fixation on the goal or destination impairs
good judgment and disregards any
alternative course of action (like not going!)

Duck-Under Syndrome
 “Sneak a peek” by ducking under minimums
on an approach because you assume there
is a ‘fudge’ factor for obstacle clearance
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Operational Pitfalls
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Scud Running
 Pushing pilot and aircraft limits trying to
maintain visual contact with terrain while
trying to avoid it

Continuing VFR into IFR
 Just stupid (especially if not Instrument
rated)
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Operational Pitfalls
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Getting behind the aircraft
 Allowing the situation to control you instead
of controlling the situation
 Constantly surprised. moments of blank
thought since you don’t know what to do

Lost of situation awareness
 Like getting behind the aircraft but
specifically related to keeping track of where
you are
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Operational Pitfalls
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Operating without adequate fuel reserve
 Simply ignoring the rules so you don’t have
to stop for refuel and can stretch it that
“extra mile.”
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Flying outside the envelope
 Flying a little overweight or a little out of CG
range. After all there is probably ‘fudge
factor’ built in.
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Operational Pitfalls
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Neglect flight planning/preflight
 Is the plane really safe?
 Do you really know where you’re going
 Are you really prepared for what could
happen?
 Is the weather really going to cooperate?
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PAVE Checklist
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P for Pilot
 Am I ready for this trip?
 Mentally – Hazardous Attitudes, stress
 Physically – IMSAFE checklist
 Experientially – Do I meet proper currency
requirements
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PAVE Checklist
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A for Aircraft
 Am I familiar with this aircraft
 Is it equipped properly and functioning
 Do I have the proper runway length
 It is weighted properly
 Can it make it high enough to clear all
obstacles or terrain?
 Is the plane properly and sufficiently fueled
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PAVE Checklist
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V for enVironment
 Current weather here, enroute, and at
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destination
Will a slight change in un-forecasted
weather be hazardous
Am I comfortable with the weather situations
I could encounter
Can I handle the terrain I am over
Do I know all I can about the airport
Do I know all airspace I may encounter
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PAVE Checklist
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E for External Pressures
 Job pressures (don’t disappoint the
passenger)
 Desire to prove yourself or impress
 Personal goal
 Pride to meet a challenge that may be
above your experience level
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ADM

While making decisions is often an
automatic process, knowing whether
you have the proper thought process is
important

Without knowing your thought process
you can easily be led into impulsivity
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ADM

The DECIDE model with an engine
failure during cruise flight

Detect…that something has changed
 Hey my engine has failed on me, that is
different than it was before
 Most people get this part
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ADM
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Estimate…the severity of the situation
and a need to react
 I think my engine being failed is pretty
serious and something should be done
about it
 Again this is usually obvious to people
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ADM

Choose…a desirable outcome
 What would be the best outcome to this
engine failure?
 Most students show, by their actions, that
the best outcome is to land in a field
 Wouldn’t the best outcome be that the
engine starts again???
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ADM

Identify…necessary actions to reach the
desired outcome previously discussed
 If you want the engine to start, do the engine
restart procedure, not look for a field
 In all honestly this procedure in a 172 takes
7 seconds (assuming you know the engine
restart procedure)
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ADM

Do…the actions you just identified as
necessary
 So do the engine restart procedure
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Evaluate…The effects of the actions
 Hey the engine started so we’re ok, maybe I
should go home though
 Hey the engine is still dead, go back to
Choose
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ADM

While this may seem silly, it is to prove a
point. That point being…THINK!!

What outcome is best and if it is in your
power to do something about it, then DO
IT!

If that outcome does not happen then
what is second best.
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