FAA Airline Transport Pilot (ATM)Human Factors and CRMMedium
During a threat and error management (TEM) briefing, a captain reviews known factors that could affect the flight, such as thunderstorms along the route and a runway with a history of bird activity at the destination. This proactive identification of external conditions before they cause an error is best described as managing:
- ACountermeasures
- BUndesired aircraft states
- CLatent errors
- DThreats
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Threats
In the TEM framework, threats are external factors (weather, terrain, ATC, aircraft malfunctions) that occur outside the crew's control but increase operational complexity. Identifying and briefing them proactively is threat management, the first step in preventing crew error.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Countermeasures are crew actions used to mitigate threats and errors, not the threats themselves.
- B. Undesired aircraft states are the result of mismanaged threats/errors, not the external factors themselves.
- C. Latent errors are hidden organizational failures, not observable external conditions like weather.
Threat and Error Management (TEM)
A framework used in CRM training that describes how flight crews manage external threats and internal errors to avoid undesired aircraft states.
- Threats: external factors like weather, terrain, ATC, or traffic
- Errors: crew actions or inactions that reduce safety margins
- Undesired Aircraft States: result of mismanaged threats/errors (e.g., unstable approach)
- Countermeasures: crew behaviors like briefings, checklists, cross-checks that mitigate threats/errors
Memory trick: TEM: Threats come first, then Errors, then Undesired states if unmanaged