Operational Procedures
Operational procedures questions test what the crew must do in normal and abnormal situations, and the order in which they do it. Anchor your revision on the standard operating sequence: pre-flight, departure, cruise, approach, landing, and emergency.
Key concepts: checklists and their use (challenge-response, do-list, read-and-do); sterile cockpit rules; take-off and landing performance requirements; fuel management and in-flight replanning; emergency procedures (engine failure, fire, decompression, ditching, evacuation); unlawful interference and the transponder code 7500; radio failure procedures (7600) and the associated light signals; and emergency descent and emergency communications (7700, MAYDAY, PAN-PAN). Also learn SOPs for approach briefing, stabilised approach criteria and go-around decision-making.
Traps: confusing the emergency codes (7500 unlawful interference, 7600 radio failure, 7700 general emergency); assuming a checklist must always be completed before acting - memory items come first; and forgetting that a go-around is always available and is the correct response to an unstable approach.
Worked example: on approach, the aircraft is not stabilised by 1 000 ft in IMC. The correct action is a go-around, not a continued approach. Rule of thumb: aviate, navigate, communicate - in that order, every time.