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| Chapter 8. Techniques of Flight Instruction
Implementing the Decision and Evaluating the Outcome Although a decision may be reached and a course of action implemented, the decision-making process is not complete. It is important to think ahead and determine how the decision could affect other phases of the flight. As the flight progresses, the pilot must continue to evaluate the outcome of the decision to ensure that it is producing the desired result. To implement her decision, Brenda plots the course changes and calculates a new estimated time of arrival. She also contacts the nearest AFSS to amend her flight plan and check weather conditions at the new destination. As she proceeds to the airport, she continues to monitor groundspeed, aircraft performance, and weather conditions to ensure no additional steps need to be taken to guarantee the safety of the flight. Factors Affecting Decision-Making It is important to stress to a student that being familiar with the decision-making process does not ensure he or she has the good judgment to be a safe pilot. The ability to make effective decisions as PIC depends on a number of factors. Some circumstances, such as the time available to make a decision, may be beyond the pilot’s control. However, a pilot can learn to recognize those factors that can be managed, and learn skills to improve decision-making ability and judgment. Recognizing Hazardous Attitudes While the ADM process does not eliminate errors, it helps the pilot recognize errors, and in turn enables the pilot to manage the error to minimize its effects. Two steps to improve flight safety are identifying personal attitudes hazardous to safe flight and learning behavior modification techniques. Flight instructors must be able to spot hazardous attitudes in a student because recognition of hazardous thoughts is the first step toward neutralizing them. CFIs should keep in mind that being fit to fly depends on more than just a pilot’s physical condition and recency of experience. Hazardous attitudes contribute to poor pilot judgment and affect the quality of decisions. Attitude can be defined as a personal motivational predisposition to respond to persons, situations, or events in a given manner. Studies have identified five hazardous attitudes that can affect a pilot’s ability to make sound decisions and exercise authority properly. [Figure 8-8]
In order for a student to self-examine behaviors during flight, he or she must be taught the potential risks caused from hazardous attitudes and, more importantly, the antidote for each. [Figure 8-9] For example, if a student has an easy time with flight training and seems to understand things very quickly, there may be a potential for that student to have a “macho” hazardous attitude. A successful CFI points out the potential for the behavior and teaches the student the antidote for that attitude. Hazardous attitudes need to be noticed immediately and corrected with the proper antidote to minimize the potential for any flight hazard.
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