CAA NZ CPL Human Factors flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Hypoxic hypoxia

Hypoxia caused by low oxygen partial pressure in the air, such as at high altitude, reducing oxygen available to the blood and tissues.

Hypemic hypoxia

Hypoxia caused by reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, for example anaemia or carbon monoxide poisoning, despite normal oxygen in the lungs.

Stagnant hypoxia

Hypoxia caused by poor blood circulation, such as in shock or heart failure, so oxygen is not delivered adequately to tissues.

Histotoxic hypoxia

Hypoxia in which cells cannot use the oxygen delivered, for example due to alcohol or cyanide affecting cellular respiration.

Time of useful consciousness

The time after loss of oxygen during which a pilot can still take corrective action; it shortens rapidly as altitude increases above 25,000 feet.

Somatogravic illusion

A false sensation of pitch caused by linear acceleration or deceleration, for example during take-off acceleration being mistaken for a nose-up attitude.

Coriolis illusion

A false tumbling sensation caused by moving the head during a turn, especially in instrument conditions, leading to disorientation.

Carbon monoxide poisoning

A hazard from engine exhaust or heaters; CO binds haemoglobin strongly, causing hypemic hypoxia with headache, nausea, and confusion; treat with 100% oxygen.

Decompression sickness

Nitrogen bubbles forming in tissues after decompression; symptoms include joint pain, breathing difficulty, and neurological signs; treat with oxygen and descent.

Valsalva manoeuvre

A pressure-equalising technique used during descent by gently blowing against a closed nose and mouth to open the Eustachian tubes.

Slip

A human error in which the intention is correct but the action is executed incorrectly, such as selecting the wrong switch.

Lapse

A human error involving a forgotten action or memory failure, such as omitting a checklist item.

Mistake

A human error where the intention or plan is wrong, leading to a correct execution of an incorrect action.

Violation

A deliberate deviation from rules or procedures, often driven by habit, pressure, or perceived low risk.

SHELL model

A human factors framework with Software, Hardware, Environment, and Liveware, focusing on interfaces between people and system components.

Swiss cheese model

A model showing that accidents occur when latent conditions and active failures align through gaps in defences, like holes in cheese slices.

Threat and error management

A framework for identifying threats, managing errors, and avoiding undesired aircraft states through briefings, monitoring, and cross-checks.

Situational awareness

The perception and understanding of relevant elements in the environment and the projection of their future status.

Yerkes-Dodson law

The principle that performance improves with moderate arousal but deteriorates at very low or very high stress levels.

Graded assertiveness

A communication technique using escalating levels of assertiveness, such as PACE, to ensure safety concerns are heard by the team.

DECIDE model

A decision-making model: Detect, Estimate, Choose, Identify, Do, and Evaluate, used to structure aeronautical decisions.

IMSAFE checklist

A pre-flight self-assessment: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, Emotion/Eating, to judge fitness to fly.

PAVE checklist

A hazard assessment tool: Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, External pressures, used to identify risks before flight.

Plan continuation bias

A judgement trap where a pilot continues with an original plan despite changing conditions suggesting a change is needed.

Closed-loop communication

A communication method where the receiver repeats back the message and the sender confirms, reducing misunderstandings.

Aviate, navigate, communicate

A prioritisation rule for workload management, ensuring control of the aircraft comes before navigation and communication tasks.

Class 1 medical

An aviation medical certificate required for commercial pilots, with validity depending on age and privileges, and requiring disclosure of medical changes.

NZ alcohol limit

For NZ pilots, no flying within 8 hours of drinking alcohol and blood alcohol must be below 20 mg per 100 mL (0.02%).

Presbyopia

Age-related loss of near focusing ability, requiring reading glasses, which affects reading instruments and charts in the cockpit.

Hazardous attitudes

Risk-increasing attitudes such as anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability, macho, and resignation, which require recognition and countering.

Vigilance decrement

The decline in attention and detection performance over time during prolonged monitoring tasks, such as watching instruments.

Circadian rhythm

The body's internal clock regulating sleep and alertness over about 24 hours, disrupted by shift work and time-zone travel.