FAA Instrument Rating Airplane (IRA)Aeromedical and ADMMedium
During a night IFR flight, a pilot becomes fixated on the analysis of a weather radar display for several minutes and fails to notice the airplane has drifted 15 degrees off the assigned heading. This scenario is a classic example of a breakdown in which resource management skill?
- ASituational awareness
- BTask delegation
- CAutomation management
- DRisk elimination
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Situational awareness
Situational awareness is the pilot's accurate perception and understanding of all factors affecting the flight, including aircraft position and heading. Fixating on one task (weather radar) to the exclusion of monitoring flight path is a classic loss of situational awareness, sometimes called 'tunneling.'
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Task delegation applies to multi-crew CRM, less relevant to single-pilot fixation.
- C. Automation management concerns proper use of autopilot/FMS modes, not attentional fixation.
- D. Risk elimination is a decision-making concept, not an attentional/awareness skill.
Situational Awareness (Tunneling)
The accurate perception of aircraft position, state, and environment; loss of it through fixation on one task is called tunneling.
- Tunneling: excessive focus on one task at expense of overall picture
- Common cause of unnoticed heading, altitude, or airspeed deviations
- Combat by periodic instrument scan and cross-check habits
Memory trick: Don't stare at one gauge while the plane wanders.