ATPL 040 Human Performance study plan

Diagram the respiratory and circulatory chain from ambient air to tissue mitochondria, labelling partial pressures at each step

Calculate alveolar and arterial PO2 at 8,000 ft and 18,000 ft cabin altitudes using the alveolar gas equation

Define hypoxia by type (hypoxic, hypemic, stagnant, histotoxic) and match each to two aviation-relevant causes

Explain the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve and list four factors that shift it left or right

Describe hyperventilation, its symptoms, and how to differentiate it from hypoxia in flight

Trace the physiology of decompression from 8,000 ft to 40,000 ft, including time of useful consciousness figures

Explain Boyle's law effects on trapped gas in ears, sinuses and gut, and describe barotrauma prevention and equalisation techniques

Describe decompression sickness mechanisms, symptom categories and the rationale for 100% oxygen and descent

Outline the anatomy and function of the eye (rods, cones, fovea, dark adaptation) and relate each to night vision limits

Outline the anatomy of the ear and explain noise-induced hearing loss and protection standards

Explain how the vestibular system (semicircular canals, otolith organs) generates somatogravic and somatogyral illusions

Distinguish the leans, Coriolis illusion, graveyard spiral and black-hole approach, and state the recovery instrument scan for each

Describe the somatosensory and visual contributions to spatial orientation and how visual illusions mislead on approach

Explain how blood composition, carbon monoxide and anaemia reduce oxygen carriage

Summarise the effects of alcohol, smoking and self-medication on oxygen transport and judgement

Model the information-processing loop (sensation, perception, decision, action) and identify where errors enter at each stage

Compare the SHELL model and the Reason Swiss-cheese model, and apply both to a described incident

Classify an error as slip, lapse, mistake or violation using given examples

Explain attention allocation, vigilance decrement and the limits of divided attention

Describe short-term and long-term memory, encoding, retrieval failure and the implications for checklist and briefing design

Describe the DECIDE model and apply it to two in-flight decision scenarios

Explain how motivation, personality traits and hazardous attitudes influence risk assessment, and counter each hazardous attitude with its antidote

Define stress, distinguish acute from chronic stress, and list physiological and performance effects

Explain fatigue types, sleep stages and the effects of sleep deprivation on reaction time and attention

Describe circadian rhythm disruption from night flying and east-west time-zone crossings, and outline mitigation strategies

Distinguish overload from underload and relate workload to the Yerkes-Dodson performance curve

Evaluate automation effects including complacency, skill degradation and mode confusion

Explain the physiological effects of positive, negative and lateral acceleration, including G-LOC and A-LOC and the anti-G straining manoeuvre

Describe motion sickness causes and in-flight countermeasures

List toxic hazards in aviation (carbon monoxide, ozone, fuel and hydraulic vapours, contaminated bleed air) with sources and effects

State the principles of cosmic radiation exposure and crew dose awareness

Explain the communication loop, barriers to effective communication and techniques such as closed-loop and standard phraseology

Describe crew coordination, role assignment and leadership styles, and identify when each style serves the situation

Analyse conflict sources and resolution strategies within a crew

Define situational awareness at three levels and identify loss-of-SA precursors and recovery techniques

Explain human-machine interface issues in monitoring automation and describe effective monitoring strategies

Define human factors and trace the historical development of the discipline from early accident statistics to modern safety thinking

Explain safety culture, just culture and the distinction between blame and accountability in reporting

Describe threat and error management and apply the threat, error and undesired-state framework to a scenario

Outline the purpose and structure of standard operating procedures and checklists, including design pitfalls

Explain flight deck design principles such as display grouping, standardisation and error-tolerant design

State the purpose of safety reporting systems and the protections that encourage reporting