Operational Procedures
Operational Procedures tests normal and emergency operations: preflight, departure, cruise, arrival, radio phraseology, wake turbulence, runway incursion, and emergency handling. The exam rewards a disciplined sequence and clear priorities.
Core procedures
- Preflight: weather, NOTAM, W&B, fuel, documents, aircraft inspection, passenger briefing.
- ATC: copy ATIS, request clearance, read back runway, altitude, heading, and frequency. Use standard phraseology and state your callsign.
- Wake turbulence: fly above the preceding aircraft’s path, land beyond its touchdown point, and avoid crossing behind a heavy aircraft.
- Engine failure: maintain control, establish best glide, choose a landing site, attempt restart, declare MAYDAY, and secure the aircraft.
- Radio emergency: MAYDAY for distress, PAN-PAN for urgency; 121.5 is the emergency frequency.
- Runway safety: sterile cockpit below 10,000 ft, no non-essential conversation, and clear readback of hold-short instructions.
Worked example
An engine fails shortly after takeoff at 500 ft AGL. The priority is to lower the nose and maintain best glide speed, not to turn back immediately. Choose a landing area within gliding range, run the restart checks, transmit MAYDAY with position and intentions, and prepare for a forced landing. The reasoning: a turn back to the runway at low altitude requires a steep bank and high sink rate, often making the runway unreachable; a controlled off-airport landing is usually safer.
Traps
Do not delay pitch control to troubleshoot. Do not read back only part of a clearance. Do not assume wake turbulence ends at the runway threshold. In an emergency, aviate, navigate, communicate-in that order.