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 an FAA-endorsed, structured approach that teaches pilots systematic risk management to reduce judgment errors and improve flight safety.
ADM utilizes the PAVE model (Pilot, Aircraft, EnVironment, External Pressures) to identify potential hazards during flight planning and operations.
The 3P model (Perceive, Process, Perform) guides pilots in evaluating identified hazards using CARE (Consequences, Alternatives, Reality, External Pressures) and performing risk mitigation with TEAM (Transfer, Eliminate, Accept, Mitigate).
Alternatively, the DECIDE model provides a simpler, continuous six-step loop (Detect, Estimate, Choose, Identify, Do, Evaluate) for effective in-flight decision-making.

See a mistake? Contact us.

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.