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 structured, systematic approach designed to teach pilots good judgment and risk management, significantly reducing the likelihood of errors in the cockpit.
Validated by studies showing a reduction in pilot judgment errors and now integrated into Airman Certification Standards, ADM emphasizes proactive risk assessment during both preflight and in-flight operations.
Key ADM tools include PAVE for identifying hazards (Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, External pressures) and decision-making models such as the 3P (Perceive, Process, Perform) with its CARE and TEAM checklists, or the DECIDE model, to systematically address and mitigate identified risks.

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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.