Human performance, flight safety and good aviation practice (flysikkerhet, Good Aviation Practice)
Human performance, flight safety and good aviation practice tests how pilot physiology, psychology and decision-making affect real VFR flights. Questions often describe symptoms or a pressure scenario and ask for the safest action, not the most technically clever one.
Physiology
Hypoxia reduces oxygen to the brain; early signs include euphoria, poor judgement, headache and tingling, and cyanosis may appear. Time of useful consciousness falls rapidly with altitude. Hyperventilation causes dizziness, tingling and anxiety but does not correct hypoxia. Carbon monoxide is colourless and odourless; it causes headache, nausea and confusion, and may be confused with hypoxia. Spatial disorientation occurs when visual cues are absent or misleading; trust the instruments and transition to visual conditions.
Performance and decisions
Fatigue, stress, dehydration and cold degrade attention and risk assessment. Use the I’M SAFE checklist (illness, medication, stress, alcohol, fatigue, eating) before flight. Good decision-making includes recognising change, setting personal minimums, and choosing diversion or cancellation.
Worked example
At 12,000 ft in an unpressurised aircraft, a pilot becomes talkative, misses a radio call and has a headache. The passenger is yawning. Reasoning: suspected hypoxia, not merely fatigue. Action: use oxygen if available, descend, communicate, and land if symptoms persist. Do not rely on feeling “fine” after descent; judgement may recover more slowly than symptoms.
Traps
Treating hyperventilation as hypoxia or vice versa; missing carbon monoxide because there is no smell; trusting sensations in cloud; and allowing fatigue or passenger pressure to override a no-go decision.