Operational Procedures (Procedimentos Operacionais)
Operational procedures test how you run a flight from preflight to shutdown: checklists, radio communications, wake turbulence avoidance, runway incursion prevention, and emergency handling. Know the standard traffic pattern (downwind, base, final), the meaning of ATC clearances and readback requirements, and the phonetic alphabet and standard phraseology. Understand wake turbulence - generated by wingtip vortices, strongest when the generating aircraft is heavy, clean, and slow - and the recommended avoidance: land before and take off after a heavy aircraft, staying above its flight path. Also know emergency procedures: engine failure, fire, forced landing, and the use of transponder codes 7500, 7600, and 7700.
Traps include confusing the emergency squawk codes, misjudging wake turbulence separation (vortices sink and drift with wind), and failing to read back hold-short or crossing instructions. Questions on radio failure expect you to know the lost-communication procedures and the 7600 code. Runway incursion questions emphasize sterile cockpit and clear, complete readbacks. Also expect items on fuel management, diversion decisions, and the go/no-go decision.
Rule of thumb: "Land before, take off after, and stay above the heavy jet's path." Worked example: a heavy jet departs ahead of you; wait for it to lift off and note its rotation point, then take off before that point and climb above its flight path to avoid its wingtip vortices.