ASI News

After you earn your pilot certificate, there will come a time when you’ll struggle to decide whether an upcoming flight is safe for you. You might ask your CFI for a second opinion, which can be very helpful. But what happens when you’re alone at the FBO in search for one more piece of information that would seal the deal on a go/no-go decision? We can be prone to overestimating our ability to navigate tricky situations, and that optimism can come at a high cost.

To help make the safest choice, the Air Safety Institute has taken the features of its popular online Flight Risk Evaluator (FRE) and put that power in the palm of your hand.

The Mobile Flight Risk Evaluator, available for your iPhone, iPad, or Android device, takes into account your pilot experience, aircraft capabilities, weather, and airport conditions to create an objective look at how safe any particular flight is for you. Designed to help you make those tough calls while removing the pressure of “the mission” from the decision-making process, the app provides safety recommendations by highlighting flight segments that are within your capabilities, and alerting you to those that might be unsafe.

It only takes a few minutes to enter flight-specific data, and you can email the results from your device. Having a record of flight conditions before you make your decision can help you develop your own set of personal minimums for future reference. Visit www.airsafetyinstitute.org/apps/flightrisk to review FAQs and download the application, or access the app directly from your device by visiting the Google Play or iTunes stores.

The Mobile Flight Risk Evaluator is brought to you by AOPA Insurance Services.