PART 61KSNSGROUND SCHOOL
North Aero NORTH AERO

Phase 4 · Module 4-1

Checkride Week 1: Tasks A and H

Task A of the checkride is Pilot Qualifications and Task H is Human Factors. Both are in Area of Operation I, Preflight Preparation, which the evaluator covers on the ground before anyone walks to the airplane. Task A asks about the pilot's paperwork and Task H asks about the pilot's body and mind. The two Tasks share one subject, which is whether this pilot is fit to make this flight today.

The Task A objective names what the evaluator measures: "To determine the applicant exhibits satisfactory knowledge, risk management, and skills associated with airman and medical certificates including privileges, limitations, currency, and operating as pilot-in-command as a private pilot" . Task A carries five knowledge elements, two risk elements and one skill element. The Task H objective covers "personal health, flight physiology, and aeromedical and human factors related to safety of flight" . Task H carries four knowledge elements, four risk elements and two skill elements, with twelve aeromedical sub-elements under the first knowledge element.

Task A lists these references :

Part 61, Part 91 and Part 68 answer most of Task A. Part 61 prescribes "the requirements for issuing pilot, flight instructor, and ground instructor certificates and ratings; the conditions under which those certificates and ratings are necessary; and the privileges and limitations of those certificates and ratings" . Part 91 "prescribes rules governing the operation of aircraft within the United States, including the waters within 3 nautical miles of the U.S. coast" . Part 68 is BasicMed.

The regulations are law, not advice. The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge states where they come from: the Code of Federal Regulations is "the codification of the general and permanent rules published by the executive departments and agencies of the United States Government," and FAA regulations are in Title 14 . A pilot who violates a regulation can lose a certificate. An evaluator who asks where a rule is written wants the part number, not a recital of the rule.

One sentence of Part 91 matters more than the rest for Task A. 14 CFR 91.3(a): "The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft" . The same sentence makes the pilot in command responsible as well as final. That responsibility is why the evaluator tests the pilot's judgment on the ground.

Paragraph (b) of the same rule applies in an emergency. 14 CFR 91.3(b): "In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency" . Paragraph (c) adds the only paperwork, which is a written report that the pilot sends to the Administrator on request. The rule requires no report unless the FAA requests one.

PA.I.A.K1 is "Certification requirements, recent flight experience, and recordkeeping" . A pilot certificate issued under Part 61 "is issued without an expiration date," and a certificate with no expiration date "is valid unless it is surrendered, suspended, or revoked" . The plastic card in the wallet does not expire. Three other requirements have time limits.

14 CFR 61.109(a) sets the flight time for the certificate. An applicant for a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine class rating must log "at least 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training" . Inside those hours the rule names four blocks of training:

The 10 hours of solo flight training include three requirements:

The numbers are minimums, not goals.

The first time limit is the flight review. No pilot can act as pilot in command without a flight review "since the beginning of the 24th calendar month before the month in which that pilot acts as pilot in command" . An authorized instructor gives the review and signs a logbook endorsement for it. The review is at least 1 hour of flight training and 1 hour of ground training. Paragraph (d) accepts a checkride in place of the review, so a new private pilot has 24 calendar months from the month of the checkride.

The second time limit applies to a flight that carries persons. No person can act as PIC of an airplane carrying persons "unless that person has made at least three takeoffs and three landings within the preceding 90 days" . That person must be sole manipulator of the controls, in the same category and class, and the same type if a type rating is required. A tailwheel airplane needs full-stop landings. Since the amendment of December 2024 the word in the rule is "persons". 14 CFR 61.1 defines a passenger to exclude a person who gives or receives flight training . 61.57(e)(5) exempts a flight flown with an authorized instructor for the purpose of regaining currency.

The third time limit applies at night. No person can act as PIC of an airplane carrying persons at night without night currency . Night for this rule runs from 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise. Night currency is three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop in that period, within the preceding 90 days. The night landings must be full stop and the day landings need not be. A pilot who is day current and night expired can still fly at night alone.

PA.I.A.K2 is "Privileges and limitations" and PA.I.A.K4 is "Documents required to exercise private pilot privileges" . The central limitation is money. 14 CFR 61.113(a): "no person who holds a private pilot certificate may act as pilot in command of an aircraft that is carrying passengers or property for compensation or hire; nor may that person, for compensation or hire, act as pilot in command of an aircraft" .

Cost sharing is the one exception to that prohibition with a number in it. A private pilot "may not pay less than the pro rata share of the operating expenses of a flight with passengers, provided the expenses involve only fuel, oil, airport expenditures, or rental fees" . Four passengers and one pilot make five shares, so the pilot pays at least one fifth. The rule allows only those four expenses, and airplane ownership costs, insurance and maintenance are not among them.

Compensation is broader than cash. AC 61-142 defines it as "the receipt of anything of value that is contingent on the pilot operating the aircraft," and states that compensation "does not require a profit, profit motive, or the actual payment of funds" . The AC lists accumulated flight time and expected future economic benefit as compensation. Free flight hours are payment.

14 CFR 61.113(b) covers a flight to a business meeting. That paragraph allows the flight only if the flight is incidental to the business. The airplane must carry no passengers or property for compensation or hire.

Three documents go in the airplane. 14 CFR 61.3(a) requires the pilot certificate to be "in the person's physical possession or readily accessible in the aircraft," and the same paragraph requires a photo identification on the same terms . 14 CFR 61.3(a)(2) accepts six photo identifications:

14 CFR 61.3(c) applies the same carriage standard to the medical certificate.

One rule in Part 61 requires a pilot to carry a logbook, and it applies only to student pilots. 14 CFR 61.51(i)(2) applies to a student pilot on a solo cross-country flight. That pilot carries the logbook, the student pilot certificate and any other required record . A certificated private pilot carries none of them. The same section requires each pilot to present the certificate, medical certificate and logbook for inspection on a reasonable request. The request can come from any of these:

PA.I.A.K3 is "Medical certificates: class, expiration, privileges, temporary disqualifications" and PA.I.A.K5 is "Part 68 BasicMed privileges and limitations" . There are three classes of medical certificate, and they differ by the privileges they cover:

Private pilot privileges need a third-class medical certificate or a qualifying alternative. 14 CFR 61.23(a)(3) requires at least a third-class medical certificate "when exercising the privileges of a private pilot certificate, recreational pilot certificate, or student pilot certificate, except when operating under the conditions and limitations set forth in § 61.113(i)" . The same paragraph requires one for the checkride itself. The named exception is BasicMed.

A third-class medical certificate has two durations. For a pilot under age 40 on the date of the examination, the certificate lasts to the end of "the 60th month after the month of the date of examination shown on the medical certificate" . That duration applies to private, recreational and student operations. For a pilot age 40 or older on that date, the certificate lasts to the end of the 24th month. The age that matters is the age on the date of the examination, not the age today.

A first-class or second-class medical certificate also covers private pilot operations. The duration table gives each of those two classes its own row for private pilot operations . Those rows carry the same 60 months and 24 months as the third-class rows. A first-class certificate that expired for airline transport privileges can still be current for private pilot privileges. The pilot reads the row for the operation, not the row for the class.

BasicMed has four conditions in 14 CFR 61.23(c)(3)(i) :

The most recent medical certificate can be expired and can carry a special issuance authorization, but not a suspension and not a revocation. The most recent Authorization for Special Issuance must not have been withdrawn. The FAA must not have denied the most recent application for a medical certificate.

14 CFR 68.3 and 68.5 set the course and the examination. The medical education course is free and online. On completion the course issues a certification, and the pilot keeps it in the logbook. The pilot also signs a statement that repeats the prohibition on flying with a known medical deficiency .

The examination uses FAA Form 8700-2. The pilot completes the pilot's section of the checklist before the appointment. The physician checks each item and addresses each condition and medication . Any state-licensed physician can do the examination, and the rule does not require an Aviation Medical Examiner.

PA.I.A.R1 is "Proficiency versus currency" and PA.I.A.R2 is "Flying unfamiliar aircraft or operating with unfamiliar flight display systems and avionics" . Currency is a set of dates. Proficiency is present skill. The regulations measure the first and never measure the second.

The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge states the difference in one sentence: "One of the most important concepts that safe pilots understand is the difference between what is 'legal' in terms of the regulations, and what is 'smart' or 'safe' in terms of pilot experience and proficiency" . AC 61-98E states the same difference as a recommendation. Pilots "should design a currency program tailored to their individual operating environments and needs, which should emphasize proficiency beyond the minimum currency requirements" . Compliance with 61.57 is a legal fact and is not a measure of skill today.

Personal minimums are limits a pilot sets above the regulatory minimums. The Risk Management Handbook states that pilots who understand the difference between legal and safe "establish personal minimums that are more restrictive than the regulatory requirements" . The pilot sets them on the ground, in a non-flying environment, and before any specific trip. The pilot never loosens them for one flight. A pilot who changes a personal minimum in the air has no personal minimum.

AC 61-98E reports that the General Aviation Joint Safety Committee "cites LOC as one of the six most critical and common causes of GA accidents," and that loss of control was the leading cause of general aviation fatalities from 2012 through 2021 . The AC defines the term: loss of control "refers to aircraft accidents that result from situations in which a pilot should have maintained (or should have regained) aircraft control but failed to do so" .

The second risk element is the unfamiliar airplane. AC 90-109A states that "the predominant factor in fatal airplane accidents is pilot performance, particularly when transitioning to an unfamiliar airplane," and that accident data shows "as much risk in 'moving down' in performance as 'moving up'" . AC 90-109A recommends a checkout that covers the numbers in the airplane flight manual, the systems and the handling differences. Part 61 requires no endorsement for most changes between single-engine airplanes, and the checkout is the pilot's own decision. The element also names unfamiliar flight displays and avionics, which carry the same risk.

A valid medical certificate does not authorize a flight when the pilot has a disqualifying condition. 14 CFR 61.53(a) applies to each person who holds a Part 67 medical certificate. That person must not act as pilot in command, or in any other required pilot crewmember seat, in two conditions. The first condition is that the person "knows or has reason to know of any medical condition that would make the person unable to meet the requirements for the medical certificate." The second condition is that the person is "taking medication or receiving other treatment for a medical condition" with the same result . The pilot makes that determination on the morning of the flight.

Paragraph (b) states the same duty for flight that needs no medical certificate. A person must not act as PIC while that person knows, or has reason to know, of any medical condition "that would make the person unable to operate the aircraft in a safe manner" . Paragraph (c) applies paragraph (b) to a BasicMed pilot. The three paragraphs state one duty.

The disqualifying conditions are ordinary:

The AIM states the rule: "The safest rule is not to fly while suffering from any illness" . The AIM adds that a medication that controls the symptoms can reduce performance.

IMSAFE is the checklist that applies 61.53 before each flight. The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge gives it as six questions: "Illness—Am I sick? Medication—Am I taking any medicines that might affect my judgment or make me drowsy? Stress—Am I under psychological pressure from the job? Alcohol—Have I been drinking within 8 hours? Within 24 hours? Fatigue—Am I tired and not adequately rested? Emotion—Am I emotionally upset?" . The Risk Management Handbook notes that some publications combine Emotion with Stress as the S, and leave the E to remind pilots about Eating .

An evaluator who asks about Task H often starts with IMSAFE. PA.I.H.S2 asks the applicant to "perform self-assessment, including fitness for flight and personal minimums, for actual flight or a scenario given by the evaluator" . The applicant answers by stating each of the six checks against the conditions of that day. Naming the six letters is not the skill. Applying them to the day of the flight is the skill.

PA.I.H.K4 is "Aeronautical Decision-Making (ADM) to include using Crew Resource Management (CRM) or Single-Pilot Resource Management (SRM), as appropriate" . The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge defines ADM as "decision-making in a unique environment—aviation. It is a systematic approach to the mental process used by pilots to consistently determine the best course of action in response to a given set of circumstances" . The definition depends on the word systematic. A pilot who decides without a repeatable process is not doing ADM.

SRM is the part of K4 that applies to a single pilot. The handbook defines it as "the art and science of managing all the resources (both on-board the aircraft and from outside sources) available to a single pilot (prior to and during flight) to ensure the successful outcome of the flight" . The resources include:

CRM applies the same process to a crew, and the handbook defines it as "the effective use of all available resources: human resources, hardware, and information" .

PAVE sorts the risks before the flight. The handbook states that the checklist "divides the risks of flight into four categories: Pilot-in-command (PIC), Aircraft, enVironment, and External pressures (PAVE)" . The four categories cover four questions:

PAVE is the checklist that satisfies 14 CFR 91.103. The regulation states: "Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight" . For any flight, the section names runway lengths and takeoff and landing distance data. For a flight away from the vicinity of an airport, the section adds:

A pilot who skips PAVE does not comply with 91.103.

PA.I.H.R2 is "Hazardous attitudes" . The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge names five: "anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability, macho, and resignation" . RAIIM orders the five as resignation, anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability and macho. Each attitude has an antidote the pilot states :

External pressures are the fourth PAVE category. The handbook defines them as "influences external to the flight that create a sense of pressure to complete a flight—often at the expense of safety" . The handbook lists these examples:

The handbook's example of the desire to impress is the phrase "Watch this!" The standard mitigation is a plan made before takeoff. The plan names a firm alternate, and the pilot tells the people waiting about it.

The pilot makes the go decision more than once. In flight the pilot makes it again as a continue or divert decision, against the same four PAVE categories, whenever the conditions change. The Risk Management Handbook gives an example of a pilot who did not divert. That pilot lost the vacuum pump in visual conditions. The handbook states that "rather than divert to an airport while in VMC, the pilot decided to continue toward the destination and into instrument meteorological conditions" . The handbook's finding is that the pilot "had the opportunity to change the outcome of the flight by diverting to an airport while still in VMC."

PA.I.H.R3 covers "Distractions, task prioritization, loss of situational awareness, or disorientation" and PA.I.H.R4 covers "Confirmation and expectation bias" . A distraction inside the airplane is a risk the evaluator expects the applicant to name.

The flight of N6500Z

On August 16, 2014, a private pilot and two passengers took off from a private airstrip near Ranger, Texas. The airplane crashed 0.4 miles past the end of the runway at 2324 central daylight time, and all three died. The airplane was a 2002 Lancair LC40-550FG. The night was clear, calm and moonless. Investigators found no defect in the engine or the airframe.

The pilot held a current medical certificate and a flight review completed three weeks earlier. He was not legally current to carry passengers at night .

The pilot was 63 and held a private pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land and instrument ratings. His logbook showed these totals :

An AME issued him a class 3 medical certificate in July 2014, about six weeks before the accident. He completed a flight review on July 25, 2014, three weeks before the accident. That two-hour flight included four instrument approaches, holding procedures and three landings, all in daytime conditions.

His last two night flights were on July 18, 2013 and October 3, 2012, and he flew both with a flight instructor. The NTSB stated: "The pilot's night currency for flight with a passenger(s) was not in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, which require three takeoffs and landings within the preceding 90 days" . He flew most of his night hours in the Dallas and Fort Worth area, where the ground is lit.

The pilot took his initial Lancair training from May 29 to 31, 2012. That training was 5 hours of ground instruction and 12.7 hours of flight instruction . On February 12, 2014, an Aspen Evolution 2000 electronic flight information system with synthetic vision replaced the airplane's original analog flight instruments. He had 2.4 hours at night in the airplane over two years.

Cook Canyon Ranch Airport is 1,476 feet above sea level and has a 5,500-foot concrete runway. Airport personnel set the runway lights to high. The 2325 observation at the field gave wind 100 degrees at 3 knots, 10 miles visibility, clear skies and 30 degrees C . Moonrise at that location was 2329, about four minutes after the accident. Other pilots who departed the same airport that night described the conditions as "extremely dark" and "like a black hole". They reported no ground lighting, moon or stars in view.

Investigators recovered an iPhone at the accident site. A photograph on it, taken that afternoon, showed an iPad mounted in front of the right seat passenger. The iPad displayed mapping information . The airplane took off on runway 35 and turned right. Two witnesses watched the bank increase slowly until the navigation lights were vertically aligned, at about 90 degrees. Radar recorded a maximum altitude of 1,725 feet above sea level, which is 249 feet above the field.

The NTSB determined the probable cause to be "the pilot's loss of airplane control shortly after takeoff as a result of spatial disorientation due to dark night conditions, the pilot's low overall night and instrument flight time, and his lack of recent night flights" . Toxicology tests detected none of the drugs tested for. The autopsy gave the cause of death as blunt force injuries. Three people died in an airplane with no mechanical defect. The pilot met each currency requirement except night currency.

Where the accident chain could have been broken

The accident was five decisions. Each decision is listed below with its PAVE category and the decision that would have ended the flight safely at that point. The pilot made four of the five on the ground.

P

Night currency expired, with two passengers on board. 14 CFR 61.57(b) requires three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop in the preceding 90 days, before carrying persons at night. Night for that rule runs from 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise. His last night flight was July 18, 2013, 13 months before the accident.

The safe decision: three night landings with an instructor before the trip, or a takeoff after sunrise. 61.57(e)(5) allows those landings with an instructor on board. The regulation states the exact requirement the pilot did not meet.

P

23.8 hours of night experience in 451.2 hours of flying, almost all of it over Dallas and Fort Worth. He had 2.4 night hours in this airplane and 3.1 hours of actual instrument time in total.

The safe decision: a personal minimum that excludes a night departure from an unlit rural airstrip at this level of night experience. Currency is a calendar requirement. The pilot did not have proficiency for this departure, and no regulation measures proficiency.

V

A moonless takeoff about five minutes before moonrise. Full-time pilots who departed the same airport that night called the conditions "extremely dark" and "like a black hole" with no ground lighting, moon or stars in view.

The safe decision: wait five minutes for the moon, or wait for morning. The U.S. Naval Observatory table gives the moonrise time, and nothing about the trip required a departure at 2324.

A

An iPad mounted in front of the right seat passenger, showing the map. The NTSB analysis states that "this location may have contributed to the pilot initially overbanking to the right as he may have turned to look at the map just after takeoff" .

The safe decision: the map mounted in front of the pilot, or no map in use until 1,000 feet above the ground. A head movement during a turn in darkness is a common cause of the leans.

✕

A right turn after takeoff that reached about 90 degrees of bank, 249 feet above the field.

The safe decision at this point: fly the attitude indicator and level the wings. The airplane had an electronic flight display with synthetic vision, and that display showed an artificial horizon when no natural horizon was visible. The pilot could have broken each earlier link on the ground.

PA.I.H.S1 asks the applicant to "associate the symptoms and effects for at least three of the conditions listed in K1a through K1l with the cause(s) and corrective action(s)" . Symptom, cause, correction. Each of the twelve conditions takes an answer in that shape.

Hypoxia is oxygen starvation of the brain. The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge states that "the greatest concern regarding hypoxia during flight is lack of oxygen to the brain, since it is particularly vulnerable to oxygen deprivation," and that "the first symptoms of hypoxia can include euphoria and a carefree feeling" . A pilot losing judgment feels well while losing it. The condition is dangerous in an airplane with no other crewmember.

Hypoxia has four types, and an evaluator asks for them often. Hypoxic hypoxia is not enough oxygen available, which at altitude is the reduced partial pressure of oxygen. Hypemic hypoxia is blood that cannot carry it, which carbon monoxide and anemia cause. Stagnant hypoxia is blood that is not moving, which G-loading causes. Histotoxic hypoxia is cells that cannot use it, which alcohol, narcotics and poisons cause .

The correction is altitude and oxygen. The handbook states that "treatment for hypoxia includes flying at lower altitudes and/or using supplemental oxygen," and that each pilot is susceptible regardless of physical endurance or acclimatization . Night vision degrades at the lowest altitude. The AIM states that "a deterioration in night vision occurs at a cabin pressure altitude as low as 5,000 feet," while the other effects usually start above 12,000 feet . Between 12,000 and 15,000 feet the AIM lists impaired judgment, memory, alertness, coordination and calculation, with headache, drowsiness, dizziness, and either euphoria or belligerence.

Hyperventilation produces the same symptoms from a different cause. The handbook defines it as "the excessive rate and depth of respiration leading to abnormal loss of carbon dioxide from the blood," and states that "breathing normally is both the best prevention and the best cure" . The AIM lists lightheadedness, a sense of suffocation, drowsiness, tingling in the extremities and coolness, and states that "early symptoms of hyperventilation and hypoxia are similar" . Stress in flight is the usual trigger. A pilot who slows the breathing and keeps flying the airplane recovers within a few minutes.

Ear and sinus blocks come from congestion during a pressure change. The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge states that an upper respiratory infection, sinusitis or a nasal allergy "can produce enough congestion around an opening to slow equalization," and that a sinus block "occurs most frequently during descent" . The pain is worst during descent, because the cabin pressure rises and the pressure in the blocked space does not equalize.

The correction on descent is mechanical. The AIM lists "swallowing, yawning, tensing muscles in the throat, or if these do not work, by a combination of closing the mouth, pinching the nose closed, and attempting to blow through the nostrils (Valsalva maneuver)" . Prevention happens before the flight. The handbook states that a sinus block "can be avoided by not flying with an upper respiratory infection or nasal allergic condition," and warns that oral decongestants "have side effects that can impair pilot performance" .

Motion sickness comes from conflicting information, the same mechanism as spatial disorientation. The handbook states that it "is caused by the brain receiving conflicting messages about the state of the body," and lists general discomfort, nausea, dizziness, paleness, sweating and vomiting as symptoms . The corrections are:

A pilot who is airsick flies badly, and a passenger who is airsick takes the pilot's attention.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is the aeromedical condition the airplane itself produces. The handbook states that carbon monoxide attaches to the hemoglobin in the blood "about 200 times more easily than oxygen," which produces hypemic hypoxia, and that "the body requires up to 48 hours to dispose of CO" . The path into the cabin is the exhaust system and the heater shroud. The AIM states that most light airplane heaters work by air flowing over the manifold. Use of such a heater while exhaust fumes escape through cracks and seals causes several accidents each year .

Carbon monoxide is "colorless, odorless, and tasteless", so the symptoms can arrive before the pilot detects exhaust odor . A pilot who detects exhaust odor, headache, drowsiness or dizziness while using the heater must do these actions, in order:

Spatial disorientation is "the lack of orientation with regard to the position, attitude, or movement of the airplane in space" . The body senses orientation three ways:

Two of the three give false information without a horizon. The handbook states that the three streams of information usually agree, which gives a clear idea of where and how the body is moving . In cloud, on a dark night, or over featureless terrain, the visual stream stops and the other two report motion the airplane is not making. The AIM states that illusions "rank among the most common factors cited as contributing to fatal aircraft accidents" .

The leans is the most common illusion in flight. The handbook states that it "is caused by a sudden return to level flight following a gradual and prolonged turn that went unnoticed by the pilot" . A roll rate of 2 degrees per second or less is below the detection threshold of the semicircular canals . Leveling the wings after such a turn then feels like banking the other way. The airplane is level and the pilot feels banked.

The somatogravic illusion occurs during takeoff acceleration. The handbook states that a rapid acceleration "stimulates the otolith organs in the same way as tilting the head backwards," which creates an illusion of a nose-high attitude "especially in conditions with poor visual references," and that "the disoriented pilot may push the aircraft into a nose-low or dive attitude" . A night takeoff over dark ground has the acceleration and no visible horizon.

Recovery is procedural and not sensory. The handbook tells pilots to rely on the instruments and disregard the senses when no visible horizon exists . A pilot who is not proficient on instruments must not fly without a horizon reference. The Instrument Flying Handbook gives the method: a pilot flies on instruments "by controlling the attitude and power, as necessary, to produce both controlled and stabilized flight without reference to a visible horizon" . Attitude and power first. The other instruments then confirm what the attitude produced.

PA.I.H.K1k is optical illusions, and the illusions that matter occur on approach. The handbook states that a narrower-than-usual runway "can create an illusion that the aircraft is at a higher altitude than it actually is" . A pilot who does not recognize the illusion flies a lower approach and risks landing short. An upsloping runway produces the same feeling of being high. A featureless approach over dark ground or water produces the black hole approach, which also makes the pilot fly low. Rain on the windscreen and atmospheric haze produce the same low approach.

Stress comes in two forms with two effects. Acute stress "involves an immediate threat that is perceived as danger" and triggers a fight or flight response, and a healthy person normally copes with it . Chronic stress "presents an intolerable burden, exceeds the ability of an individual to cope, and causes individual performance to fall sharply." Acute stress narrows attention onto the threat and chronic stress reduces attention to everything. A pilot under chronic stress fails the S of IMSAFE before the engine starts.

Fatigue also comes in two forms, and the cures differ. Acute fatigue "is short term and is a normal occurrence in everyday living," the tiredness after strenuous effort, excitement or lack of sleep, and "rest after exertion and 8 hours of sound sleep ordinarily cures this condition" . Chronic fatigue extends over a long period, "is not relieved by proper diet and adequate rest and sleep and usually requires treatment by a physician." Fatigue degrades judgment before it degrades control of the airplane. A tired pilot flies the airplane and misjudges the weather.

Dehydration starts as fatigue. The handbook defines it as "a critical loss of water from the body," names hot flight decks and flight lines, wind, humidity and diuretic drinks as causes, and states that "the first noticeable effect of dehydration is fatigue, which in turn makes top physical and mental performance difficult, if not impossible" . Its signs are headache, fatigue, cramps, sleepiness and dizziness. The handbook recommends two to four quarts of water each 24 hours, and water carried in the airplane.

Hypothermia is a survival risk after an off-field landing in any season. A pilot who lands in a field in a light shirt in April has a long cold night if nobody arrives before dark. The clothing that matters is clothing for the terrain under the route, not clothing for the cabin. Packing it is part of the preflight.

A dive dissolves nitrogen into the body, and the climb afterward brings it back out of solution. The handbook states that scuba diving "subjects the body to increased pressure, which allows more nitrogen to dissolve in body tissues and fluids," and that the diver must allow time to shed it . The AIM gives these waits :

A morning dive and an afternoon flight can produce decompression sickness.

PA.I.H.K2 is "Regulations regarding use of alcohol and drugs" and PA.I.H.K3 is "Effects of alcohol, drugs, and over-the-counter medications" . The regulation is 14 CFR 91.17(a). No person can act or attempt to act as a crewmember of a civil airplane in any of these conditions :

Any one of those four conditions grounds the pilot.

Eight hours is a minimum, and it does not mean the pilot is unimpaired. The AIM states that "due to the slow destruction of alcohol, a pilot may still be under influence 8 hours after drinking a moderate amount of alcohol," and gives its own number: "an excellent rule is to allow at least 12 to 24 hours between 'bottle and throttle,' depending on the amount of alcoholic beverage consumed" . A hangover is impairment at a blood alcohol concentration of zero. The A of IMSAFE asks two questions for that reason, which are "Have I been drinking within 8 hours? Within 24 hours?" .

Medication is the most common reason 61.53 applies to a private pilot. The rule bars flying while "taking medication or receiving other treatment for a medical condition" that leaves the pilot unable to meet the medical standard . Sedating antihistamines are the common example, because they are sold without a prescription and they treat a condition that grounds the pilot anyway.

The FAA publishes a guide to over-the-counter medications. The Over-the-Counter Medications Reference Guide marks each common medication GO or NO GO, and states in capital letters: "NEVER FLY AFTER TAKING A NEW MEDICATION FOR THE FIRST TIME UNTIL AT LEAST 48 HOURS HAVE PASSED AND NO SIDE EFFECTS ARE NOTED" . For a NO GO medication the wait is at least five dosage intervals after the last dose. Sedating antihistamines carry their own waits, which are 60 hours for diphenhydramine and doxylamine and 5 days for chlorpheniramine and clemastine. The guide notes that sedating antihistamines are commonly found in autopsy after airplane accidents.

The pilot makes the decision that prevents a VFR-into-IMC accident before the airplane enters cloud. The pilot turns back while the ground is still visible, toward the weather the flight already flew through and found good. A pilot who waits for the first cloud trades a visual turn for an instrument turn. A VFR pilot in cloud flies a maneuver that nobody trained that pilot to fly.

The escape itself is a procedure with numbers. The Airplane Flying Handbook gives the attitude method first :

Pitch changes stay within one bar width. The turn is the dangerous part, because of overcontrol and the graveyard spiral that follows it, so "the smallest practical bank angle should be used—in any case no more than 10° bank angle" .

One maneuver at a time. The handbook states that combined maneuvers such as climbing or descending turns "should be avoided if at all possible by an untrained instrument pilot" . A combined maneuver compounds the problems and increases the risk of losing control. Level the wings, then turn, then climb for terrain if terrain requires it. The handbook adds that a pilot who feels rushed by a controller can ask the controller to slow down.

Doubt is already at least an urgency condition in the AIM's terms. "An aircraft is in at least an urgency condition the moment the pilot becomes doubtful about position, fuel endurance, weather, or any other condition that could adversely affect flight safety. This is the time to ask for help, not after the situation has developed into a distress condition" . The AIM adds that ready and willing help exists in radio, radar, direction finding stations and other airplanes, and that "delay has caused accidents and cost lives."

Radar gives a lost VFR pilot position, headings and terrain-safe vectors. The AIM states that radar-equipped FAA facilities "provide radar assistance and navigation service (vectors) to VFR aircraft provided the aircraft can communicate with the facility, are within radar coverage, and can be radar identified" . The service does not transfer responsibility. The guidance is advisory and "the job of flying the aircraft safely, remains with the pilot" . A pilot who uses flight following already has a controller on the frequency, and must report the weather ahead to that controller.

Sources for this module

You are not asked to read these end to end. Have them, and know where in them this module lives. On the checkride you may open the handbook and you may not open this site. Each one links to where you get it. Reading a full chapter is worth it, and it is not required to pass this module.

Your study guide and quiz

The facts to remember are:

Study guide — Module 4-1 (PDF)

Task A asks what a pilot is allowed to do and Task H asks what a pilot is able to do. The Ranger departure failed both: the pilot was not legally current for the flight, and he was not proficient for it either.