When was the last time you experienced a flight where something out of the ordinary or unexpected occurred, forcing you to alter your plans? How pilots react to these frequent bumps in the road is a direct reflection of their aeronautical decision-making skills. And because accident reports so often indicate poor ADM as a strong causal factor, the FAA insists that designated pilot examiners place special emphasis on ADM and risk-assessment skills during all checkrides. The FAA has even devoted an entire handbook to risk management (FAA-H-8083-2).
Few people are natural-born planners or cautious decision makers. These skills are learned and enhanced over time through proper training and experience. For example, consider a student pilot who grew up in the Midwest, where winter icing conditions are common. Driving (or even walking) on ice presents an entirely different set of risks compared to flying in icing conditions. So without additional aeronautical training, that student pilot may be completely ill-equipped to properly evaluate the risks or make appropriate decisions regarding a proposed flight into icing conditions. Therefore, effective flight training is an essential element in the proper development of ADM skills.
During checkrides, DPEs will often begin evaluating ADM skills during the ground, or oral, portion of the practical test. And most examiners will continue this ADM evaluation during the flight portion as well. During the oral exam, the use of what-if, scenario-style questions is a common method of evaluating risk assessment and decision-making skills. Inoperative equipment, an ill passenger, or unexpected strong headwinds are a few examples of conditions that might cause an applicant to consider a diversion to a nearby airport. Relatively higher-risk scenarios, such as imminent fuel exhaustion or rapidly deteriorating weather conditions, for example, might dictate a precautionary off-airport landing as a much safer option than attempting to reach a more distant diversion airport. An applicant who chooses to continue to his planned destination in these simulated high-risk scenarios would raise some serious warning flags in the examiner’s mind.
Inappropriate responses to emergency situations are also areas of concern that DPEs observe. Consider an applicant who decides to continue the flight after initial evidence of an electrical fire (smoke) that appears to have been subsequently contained. Or an applicant who decides to continue the flight after discovering possible carbon monoxide exposure, believing that simply turning off the cabin heat would eliminate any possible threat. Here again, it is surprising how often applicants will choose to continue their planned flight even when faced with simulated undesirable or risky situations that seem to be screaming, “Get this airplane on the ground—now!”
When it comes to the flight portion of the practical test, the examiner may introduce a trigger to activate an applicant’s ADM response. But a typical flight can automatically produce a bevy of problems or conditions that require ADM skills intervention by the applicant. Something as common as a wind shift dictating a runway change, or unexpected turbulence suggesting an altitude change, are good examples.
On the other hand, consider an applicant who may have been conditioned to accepting as normal, certain system or equipment anomalies as idiosyncratic to his training aircraft—not realizing the safety risks or the legal ramifications of operating with the faulty equipment. For example, a magneto check that chronically results in an excessive rpm drop, or no drop at all; a landing-gear position warning horn that hasn’t operated for months; an intermittent electrical generating system; an inoperative or faulty fuel gauge; or a problem with the tachometer or another required engine gauge. This is just a short list of some of the conditions with which examiners have witnessed applicants attempting to fly—and that clearly indicate a failure of the normal risk assessment and ADM process, most likely caused by faulty or inadequate training.
To generalize the handling of most risk management and ADM issues—whether discovered before or during a flight—if any condition arises that is unexpected, undesirable, uncomfortable, unsafe, or unwise, consider all your options and choose a less risky solution. Whenever faced with a potential risk, ADM is all about options. Identifying and then choosing the reduced-risk option when things aren’t going as planned is exactly what the examiner is looking for on your checkride.
