Regulations, Emergency/Abnormal Procedures and Human Factors
Regulations
Know who is responsible
Operational control is shared: the dispatcher and the pilot in command jointly exercise it, and the PIC retains final authority, including the right to deviate from rules in an emergency. In US domestic operations the framework sits in 14 CFR Part 121 Subpart S (121.533, 121.535 and 121.537 cover domestic, flag and supplemental operations); internationally, ICAO Annex 6 sets the equivalent standards.
Frequent test areas: dispatcher duty limits, which under 14 CFR 121.465 cap scheduled duty at 10 hours in any 24 consecutive hours with rest requirements around it; flight-time and rest limits for crews; the MEL, which permits dispatch with specified inoperative equipment under stated conditions and never extends to items marked no-go; documents required on board; and record retention.
Traps: assuming the dispatcher can override the PIC; assuming a release is valid without the required weather and NOTAM checks; confusing advisory material with regulatory material; and applying an international rule set to a question that is clearly domestic, or the reverse.
Worked example. A dispatcher signs on at 06:00. With a 10-hour limit in any 24 consecutive hours, the latest release and duty end is 16:00. A meal break does not reset the clock, and duty includes administrative work performed before the first departure.
Emergency/Abnormal Procedures and Human Factors
Time-critical items first
Know the memory items and their order. Rapid depressurisation: mask on, 100% oxygen selected, then emergency descent to 10,000 ft or minimum safe altitude at maximum practical rate, turn off the assigned track, and advise ATC. Time of useful consciousness is roughly 30 to 60 seconds at FL350 and less higher up, which is precisely why the mask precedes everything else.
Engine failure in cruise leads to driftdown: the aircraft descends toward single-engine maximum altitude. The dispatcher verifies terrain, obstacle and oxygen coverage along that path and selects a diversion with suitable weather and runway. Squawk 7700 for emergency, 7600 for radio failure, 7500 for unlawful interference.
Human factors questions test judgement rather than trivia. Fatigue and the circadian low, hypoxia producing euphoria and impaired judgement, spatial disorientation, automation complacency and loss of situational awareness are the recurring themes. Use a structured decision model: assess the situation, generate options, act, then review the outcome. Crew resource management and threat and error management are the frameworks the questions expect.
Worked example. An emergency descent from FL350 to 10,000 ft covers 25,000 ft. At about 6,000 fpm that is just over 4 minutes, and without oxygen a passenger may be impaired long before the descent is complete. The mask goes on before the descent begins, never after.