Flight Instructor (Airplane) Human Factors Lesson Plan

Flight Instructor (Airplane) • ACS Area II, Task A

The Flight Instructor (Airplane) Human Factors Lesson Plan covers the instructional knowledge, risk management, and skills required by FAA-S-ACS-25.

Flight Instructor (Airplane) Human Factors Lesson Plan

Introduction

  • Schedule

    Topic:
    Time:
    Attention/Motivator:
    0:05
    Part 1, Lesson Introduction:
    0:05
    Part 2, Instructional Knowledge:
    0:25
    Part 3, Risk Management Instruction:
    0:15
    Part 4, Skill Demonstration and Teaching:
    0:30
    Part 5, Guided Teaching Scenario:
    0:20
    Part 6, Lesson Conclusion:
    0:05
    Remotivation/Closure:
    0:05
    Total Ground Time:
    0:00

  • Attention Getter:

    • Present a teaching scenario in which learner safety or understanding depends on effective instruction in human Factors.
    • Ask the instructor applicant to identify the first instructional decision that will shape the learner's outcome.

  • Motivator:

    • To determine the applicant understands personal health, flight physiology, aeromedical and human factors, can apply that knowledge, manage associated risks, demonstrate appropriate skills, and provide effective instruction.

Help Us Grow

Enjoy CFI Notebook? A one-time donation helps us create more high-quality lessons, quizzes, scenarios, graphics, and interactive tools.

One-Time Donation
Flight Instructor (Airplane) Human Factors Lesson Plan

Materials

Flight Instructor (Airplane) Human Factors Lesson Plan

Instructor Actions

  • Before the lesson, review the reference materials, applicable airplane limitations, and the instructor applicant's prior lesson preparation.
  • Part 1, Lesson Introduction:
    • Present the attention getter and motivator.
    • Review Area of Operation II, Task A, and the Airman Certification Standards.
    • State the lesson objective: To determine the applicant understands personal health, flight physiology, aeromedical and human factors, can apply that knowledge, manage associated risks, demonstrate appropriate skills, and provide effective instruction.
  • Part 2, Instructional Knowledge:
    • Teach the symptoms, recognition cues, causes, operational effects, prevention, and immediate corrective actions associated with each aeromedical and physiological condition, including: (AI.II.A.K1)
      • Hypoxia, including susceptibility, personal symptoms, impairment before recognition, oxygen use, and descent. (AI.II.A.K1a)
      • Hyperventilation, including differentiation from hypoxia and controlled-breathing corrective action. (AI.II.A.K1b)
      • Middle ear and sinus problems, including pressure changes, congestion, pain, vertigo, and avoidance of flight when equalization is doubtful. (AI.II.A.K1c)
      • Spatial disorientation, including vestibular illusions, visual conflicts, instrument reliance, and recovery by reference to reliable flight instruments. (AI.II.A.K1d)
      • Motion sickness, including early recognition, ventilation, visual reference, workload reduction, and safe termination when necessary. (AI.II.A.K1e)
      • Carbon monoxide poisoning, including source identification, detector use, fresh air, heat shutdown when appropriate, oxygen, and landing. (AI.II.A.K1f)
      • Stress, including cumulative effects, degraded judgment, workload management, and recognizing when stress makes a flight unsafe. (AI.II.A.K1g)
      • Fatigue, including acute and chronic fatigue, circadian disruption, sleep debt, and the limits of short-term countermeasures. (AI.II.A.K1h)
      • Dehydration and nutrition, including impaired concentration, heat exposure, hydration planning, and suitable nourishment. (AI.II.A.K1i)
      • Hypothermia, including environmental exposure, progressive impairment, rewarming, and emergency care. (AI.II.A.K1j)
      • Optical illusions, including misleading runway, terrain, lighting, and atmospheric cues and the disciplined use of instruments and stabilized-approach criteria. (AI.II.A.K1k)
      • Dissolved nitrogen after scuba diving, including altitude-related decompression sickness, recommended surface intervals, symptom recognition, oxygen, descent, and medical evaluation. (AI.II.A.K1l)
    • Use an aircraft- or scenario-specific example, then have the learner explain the regulations governing alcohol and drug use, including the operating prohibitions, required time interval after drinking, blood-alcohol limitation, refusal or testing implications, and the pilot's continuing responsibility to determine fitness for flight. (AI.II.A.K2)
    • Compare the performance effects and interaction risks of alcohol, prescription drugs, illicit drugs, and over-the-counter medications; emphasize label warnings, residual impairment, individual variability, and consultation with an aviation medical examiner when uncertain. (AI.II.A.K3)
    • Apply aeronautical decision-making through crew resource management or single-pilot resource management, as appropriate, using structured risk assessment, workload and automation management, communication, available resources, and timely decisions to change or discontinue a flight. (AI.II.A.K4)
  • Part 3, Risk Management Instruction:
    • Use a preflight and in-flight self-assessment to identify aeromedical or physiological hazards, establish personal minimums and discontinue criteria, and select practical controls such as delaying, diverting, descending, using oxygen, reducing workload, or landing. (AI.II.A.R1)
    • Have the learner recognize each hazardous attitude in realistic pilot statements, apply the corresponding antidote, and replace impulsive or ego-driven decisions with an evidence-based course of action. (AI.II.A.R2)
    • Present competing tasks or degraded visual cues and require the learner to maintain aircraft control, prioritize, use available automation and resources appropriately, preserve situational awareness, and recognize and correct developing disorientation. (AI.II.A.R3)
    • Present information that conflicts with an expected outcome and require the learner to seek disconfirming evidence, independently verify critical assumptions, and revise the plan rather than forcing the evidence to fit the expectation. (AI.II.A.R4)
    • Require the instructor applicant to model risk controls, intervention points, and discontinue criteria while teaching.
  • Part 4, Skill Demonstration and Teaching:
    • Use scenario cues to have the learner associate the symptoms and operational effects of hypoxia, spatial disorientation, and carbon monoxide poisoning with their likely causes, then select and explain the correct immediate actions for each condition. (AI.II.A.S1)
    • Have the learner perform and explain a complete fitness-for-flight and personal-minimums self-assessment for an actual or assigned flight, identify any unacceptable risk, and make and defend a go, delay, modify, divert, or no-go decision. (AI.II.A.S2)
    • Coach simultaneous explanation, demonstration, observation, error correction, and, when airborne, positive aircraft control.
  • Part 5, Guided Teaching Scenario:
    • Lead the guided scenario.
    • Evaluate instructional organization, technical accuracy, risk management, learner engagement, and every applicable ACS element.
  • Part 6, Lesson Conclusion:
    • Review the lesson objective, instructional strengths, risk-management decisions, and items requiring additional practice.
    • Present the re-motivation and closure.
  • Update instructor records and the instructor applicant's training record, as required.
Flight Instructor (Airplane) Human Factors Lesson Plan

Guided Scenario(s)

  • Assign a flight involving mild illness or fatigue, medication use, night conditions, time pressure, and changing weather; require the instructor applicant to teach the applicable physiological, medication, and decision-making concepts. (AI.II.A.K1–K4)
  • Require the learner to complete a fitness-for-flight and personal-minimums assessment, identify hazardous attitudes and cognitive bias, prioritize competing tasks, and make and defend a go, delay, modify, divert, or no-go decision. (AI.II.A.R1–R4; AI.II.A.S2)
  • During the scenario, present recognizable cues for hypoxia, spatial disorientation, and carbon monoxide poisoning and require the learner to associate each condition with its cause, operational effects, and immediate corrective action. (AI.II.A.S1)
  • Introduce a realistic learner error, such as normalization of a symptom, confirmation bias, fixation on the destination, or improper task prioritization, and require timely instructor intervention and correction.
  • Conclude with a learner-centered assessment and instructor self-critique tied to the ACS knowledge, risk management, and skill elements.
Flight Instructor (Airplane) Human Factors Lesson Plan

Student Actions

  • Complete assigned readings and prepare a lesson plan with objective, content sequence, teaching aids, assessment, and completion standards.
  • Teach the applicable knowledge elements accurately and in learner-appropriate language rather than relying on rote recitation.
  • Identify, assess, mitigate, and teach the risks associated with the task.
  • Demonstrate or explain each applicable skill while maintaining positive control, observing the learner, and correcting errors appropriately.
  • Review AOPA's Do the Right Thing: Decision Making for Pilots Safety Spotlight.
  • Use effective questions, check learner understanding, conduct a learner-centered assessment, and perform an instructor self-assessment.
Flight Instructor (Airplane) Human Factors Lesson Plan

Airman Certification Standards

Flight Instructor (Airplane) Human Factors Airman Certification Standards

  • Note: The evaluator must select Tasks C, K, and at least one other Task from this Area of Operation. The evaluator must also select Task P for multiengine applicants.
  • Task A: Human Factors.
  • Objective: To determine the applicant understands personal health, flight physiology, aeromedical and human factors, can apply that knowledge, manage associated risks, demonstrate appropriate skills, and provide effective instruction.
  • References: AIM; FAA-H-8083-2, FAA-H-8083-3, FAA-H-8083-9, FAA-H-8083-25
Knowledge 4 ACS Elements
  • AI.II.A.K1:
    Symptoms, recognition, causes, effects, and corrective actions associated with aeromedical and physiological issues, including:
    • AI.II.A.K1a:
      Hypoxia
    • AI.II.A.K1b:
      Hyperventilation
    • AI.II.A.K1c:
      Middle ear and sinus problems
    • AI.II.A.K1d:
      Spatial disorientation
    • AI.II.A.K1e:
      Motion sickness
    • AI.II.A.K1f:
      Carbon monoxide poisoning
    • AI.II.A.K1g:
      Stress
    • AI.II.A.K1h:
      Fatigue
    • AI.II.A.K1i:
      Dehydration and nutrition
    • AI.II.A.K1j:
      Hypothermia
    • AI.II.A.K1k:
      Optical illusions
    • AI.II.A.K1l:
      Dissolved nitrogen in the bloodstream after scuba dives
  • AI.II.A.K2:
    Regulations regarding use of alcohol and drugs.
  • AI.II.A.K3:
    Effects of alcohol, drugs, and over-the-counter medications.
  • AI.II.A.K4:
    Aeronautical Decision-Making (ADM) to include using Crew Resource Management (CRM) or Single- Pilot Resource Management (SRM), as appropriate.
Risk Management 4 ACS Elements
  • AI.II.A.R1:
    Aeromedical and physiological issues.
  • AI.II.A.R2:
    Hazardous attitudes.
  • AI.II.A.R3:
    Distractions, task prioritization, loss of situational awareness, or disorientation.
  • AI.II.A.R4:
    Confirmation and expectation bias.
Skills 2 ACS Elements
  • AI.II.A.S1:
    Associate the symptoms and effects for at least three of the conditions listed in K1a through K1l with the cause(s) and corrective action(s).
  • AI.II.A.S2:
    Perform self-assessment, including fitness for flight and personal minimums, for actual flight or a scenario given by the evaluator.
Flight Instructor (Airplane) Human Factors Lesson Plan

Conclusion

  • Re-Motivation:

    • Effective instruction in human Factors helps learners build sound judgment, technical competence, and safe operating habits.

  • Closure:

    • Advise students that this lesson will be used as a starting point for the next lesson.
    • Assign study materials for the next lesson.