Skip to main content
FAA-H-8083-9B, Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Teaching Practical Risk Management during Flight Instruction

Practical guidance for teaching risk management at every level of training and for managing the risks unique to flight instruction itself.

Read the chapter in the FAA PDFGo to the quiz

Chapter summary

Accident data show that many aviation accidents involve poor risk management decisions, so effective risk management is one of the most important skills a pilot can learn and practice as a habit. Chapter 10 builds on the foundations in Chapter 1 and gives instructors practical guidance. It uses an NTSB report of a Mooney accident to show that conventional analysis labels such events as pilot error from loss of control, while the PAVE checklist reveals the hazards behind them: a failed vacuum pump, IMC ahead, a desire to reach the destination, and an assumption that the aircraft could be controlled without critical instruments.

Risk management should be taught from the very start of flight training, integrated into flight lessons rather than taught separately, and introduced on the ground before the first flight. It belongs in every preflight and postflight briefing and in recurrent training, flight reviews, and instrument proficiency checks. The chapter walks through identifying risk with PAVE and IMSAFE, assessing severity and likelihood on a risk matrix, and mitigating risk using TEAM: transfer, eliminate, accept, and mitigate. Risk management can begin days before a flight and continues through the flight. Numerical flight risk assessment tools should be used with caution, because a single extreme risk can hide behind a low score.

Instructors should use a building block approach. Before solo, the instructor leads risk management and demonstrates a non-numerical FRAT so the learner can conduct a basic analysis by first solo. After solo, the learner analyzes each flight with occasional coaching and debriefs the instructor afterward. During cross-country training, the learner completes a full risk analysis for every flight, which the instructor reviews and approves. Experienced pilots in instrument, transition, and recurrent training also need risk management, especially those certificated before the ACS, as do professional pilots who fly their own aircraft without the support of a crew or employer.

Flight instruction carries its own hazards. Using PAVE, instructors consider pilot risks for both learner and instructor, aircraft risks such as unknown discrepancies or limited payload, environmental risks such as crowded practice areas and maneuvers that can create real emergencies, and external pressures on the learner. Mitigations include knowing the aircraft and avionics, monitoring IMSAFE for both pilots, confirming airworthiness before the preflight, and being willing to change or end a lesson. The instructor involves the learner throughout, avoids teaching at inappropriate times or altitudes, completes most takeoff teaching before contacting tower or announcing on the CTAF, and uses concise prompting on approach.

Main topics

  • Poor risk management and accident causality
  • Analyzing an accident with the PAVE checklist
  • When and how to teach risk management
  • Identifying, assessing, and mitigating risk
  • TEAM, the risk assessment matrix, and FRATs
  • Building block approach by phase of instruction
  • Risk management for experienced and professional pilots
  • Common flight instruction risks and best practices
  • Managing risk while teaching takeoffs and landings

Key terms

Risk management
The part of the decision-making process that relies on situational awareness, problem recognition, and good judgment to reduce the risks associated with each flight.
PAVE checklist
A means of identifying risk that sorts hazards into four categories, or buckets: pilot, aircraft, environment, and external pressures.
Pilot (P) sub-elements
The pilot category applies to both learner and instructor and has two sub-elements: qualification, currency, and proficiency; and aeromedical hazards and risks.
IMSAFE
An acronym used to identify aeromedical hazards and risks for the pilot. Instructors should monitor it for themselves and encourage learners to disclose their own issues early.
Risk assessment matrix
A tool that rates a risk by its likelihood (probability) and severity (consequences). In the handbook example, occasional likelihood with catastrophic severity falls in the high-risk area.
Severity and likelihood
The two dimensions of risk assessment: the consequences of an event and its probability. In flight operations these can be subjective, but accuracy improves with practice and experience.
TEAM
An acronym for the steps in the mitigation process: transfer, eliminate, accept, and mitigate.
Transfer (risk)
Moving the risk elsewhere, as when a pilot facing a forecast of widespread icing buys an airline ticket instead of flying.
Eliminate (risk)
Removing the risk entirely, such as cancelling a recreational flight, not flying if the crosswind exceeds a limit, or not practicing stalls if the ceiling is below a set value.
Accept (risk)
The final mitigation step, in which the pilot consciously decides whether to accept the remaining risk on behalf of any passengers.
Flight risk assessment tool (FRAT)
A more structured tool for complex flights. Many use numerical scores, which should be used with caution because a low score can still include an unmitigated, unacceptable risk.
Building block approach
Teaching risk management in stages, from instructor-led analysis before solo, to coached analysis after solo, to full analysis on every cross-country flight.
Threat and error management (TEM)
A training and operating concept used with professional crews that has elements similar to risk management.
External pressures
Pressures from schedules, work, family, finances, and similar issues that can create distractions and anxiety and degrade performance. The handbook calls them potentially the most insidious hazards.

Revision quiz

10 questions. Pick an answer to see whether it is right and why.

Answered 0 of 10
  1. 1.In the Mooney accident analysis, the pilot knew of a vacuum pump failure. Under PAVE, which type of hazard was the faulty equipment?
  2. 2.According to the handbook, when should risk management be taught?
  3. 3.What does the acronym TEAM stand for in the risk mitigation process?
  4. 4.Days before a planned trip, a pilot sees a forecast weather system with widespread icing and buys an airline ticket instead. Which risk response is this?
  5. 5.Why does the handbook say numerical FRATs should be used with caution?
  6. 6.During pre-solo instruction, how does the handbook recommend structuring a new learner's risk management training?
  7. 7.During cross-country training, what should the instructor require regarding risk analysis?
  8. 8.A certificated pilot asks how much risk analysis is expected for a short local flight. What does the handbook suggest?
  9. 9.When teaching takeoffs, when should the instructor do most of the teaching?
  10. 10.What does the handbook recommend about instructor coaching on final approach?

This page is a study aid written from Aviation Instructor's Handbook (FAA-H-8083-9B), Chapter 10. The handbook is the authoritative source; read the full chapter in the official FAA PDF.

VectoredOps is not affiliated with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Chapter 10: Teaching Practical Risk Management during Flight Instruction | Aviation Instructor's Handbook Quiz | VectoredOps | VectoredOps