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Acknowledge Your Attitudes

Recognizing the hazardous attitudes we all have is the challenge, and there’s an FAA Advisory Circular for that. 

The scene here occurred at the Manassas Regional Airport/Harry P. Davis Field, KHEF, in 2006. Outcomes like this only happen when the taxiing pilot is distracted. It’s possible they were in a hurry, and nothing bad could happen because they were invulnerable, right?
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Pilots frequently use acronyms and mnemonics to memorize the extensive information required for safe flight operations.
  • The FAA identifies five "hazardous attitudes"—Macho, Resignation, Anti-Authority, Impulsivity, and Invulnerability—that can compromise a pilot's judgment and safety.
  • Pilots are encouraged to self-assess their attitudes, using tools like the FAA Advisory Circular 60-22, to identify and counteract these hazardous mindsets proactively before they lead to incidents or accidents.
See a mistake? Contact us.

We pilots use all kinds of acronyms to remember stuff, because, like doctors and nurses, we have to memorize scads of information (SOI) and operate on people (OOP), sometimes removing their stomach contents for display all over the cockpit when we forgot to bring a bag. 

We also use mnemonics or phrases, like, “Mary had a little lamb, her fleece was white as snow, and if the VASI’s red o’er red, I’m too blanking low.” Or, “High to low, look out below,” which means to not dork up your altimeter setting and remember to clear the area below the aircraft when dropping stuff.

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