Situational Awareness Flashcards
6 cards from real FAST practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Situational Awareness flashcards as text
Situational awareness (SA) is best defined as:
Answer: Perceiving environmental elements, comprehending their meaning, and projecting future states
Endsley's three-level model defines SA as: Level 1 — perception of elements; Level 2 — comprehension of their meaning; Level 3 — projection of future status. It is about building and maintaining an accurate mental model.
A pilot sees a warning light but does not know what it signifies. Which level of situational awareness is present, and which is absent?
Answer: Level 1 present; Level 2 absent
Level 1 SA (perception) is present — the pilot sees the light. Level 2 SA (comprehension) is absent — the pilot does not understand what it means. Level 3 (projection) cannot exist without Level 2.
Which condition most severely degrades situational awareness in a high-workload environment?
Answer: Cognitive tunnelling on a single instrument
Cognitive tunnelling — fixating attention on one instrument or task — causes loss of awareness of other critical information, directly breaking SA. The other options either support SA or are neutral.
An altimeter reads 2,000 ft, the VSI shows −500 ft/min, and ATC has cleared the aircraft to maintain 1,500 ft. How many seconds until the target altitude is reached?
Answer: 60 seconds
The aircraft is 500 ft above target (2,000 − 1,500) and descending at 500 ft/min. Time = 500 ÷ 500 = 1 minute = 60 seconds.
An air traffic controller is tracking 8 aircraft: 3 on final approach, 2 climbing through a congested zone converging toward the same altitude, and 3 in cruise. Which situation demands the most urgent attention?
Answer: The two climbing aircraft converging toward the same altitude
Converging aircraft at the same altitude represent an imminent collision risk — the highest-priority SA concern. Time-critical proximity conflicts always outweigh scheduling, heading, and fuel concerns.
A pilot's SA degrades significantly 8 minutes after entering IMC (instrument meteorological conditions). The MOST likely cause is:
Answer: Attentional narrowing due to increased cognitive demand
IMC sharply increases cognitive demand and stress. Without external visual references, workload rises and causes attentional narrowing — a reduction in the breadth of cues monitored — leading to SA degradation over time.