Good Pilot Decision Making

Validating ADM, the AC cites a study where student pilots who received ADM training made 10-50 percent fewer judgment errors than untrained students. This is why the new Airman Certification Standards incorporate a risk management component into every task to promote learning and applying risk management during flight training. Yet learning ADM is challenging in part because much FAA documentation is, frankly, poorly organized and excessively wordy.

Fred Simonds

Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) is a systematic, risk-management approach taught by the FAA to reduce pilot errors by identifying and mitigating flight hazards.
ADM utilizes structured frameworks like the 3P model (Perceive, Process, Perform), which integrates the PAVE (Pilot, Aircraft, EnVironment, External pressures) checklist for identifying hazards, CARE for processing risks, and TEAM for performing mitigation.
An alternative, simpler decision-making framework is the DECIDE model (Detect, Estimate, Choose, Identify, Do, Evaluate), with both models aiming to improve cockpit judgments and flight safety.

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We all know most accidents are caused by pilot errors in judgment, reasoning, or skill. We learn through our mistakes. But, we can’t make (and survive) all possible mistakes ourselves. So, the FAA tries to teach us good judgment and reasoning.

In AC 60-22, Aeronautical Decision Making, the FAA claims that good judgment can be taught besides being learned from experience. Aeronautical Decision Making, ADM, builds upon conventional decision making to help decrease the likelihood of errors in the cockpit. It is a structured, systematic approach using risk-management tools called PAVE and DECIDE.