34.46 Situational Awareness

Situational awareness is maintaining an accurate mental picture of what is happening around you, understanding what that information means, and anticipating what is likely to happen next.

It involves maintaining awareness of the aircraft, its position and performance, the environment, traffic, weather, fuel state, terrain, ATC requirements and the progress of the flight.

A useful way of thinking about situational awareness is:

• What is happening now?
• What does it mean?
• What is likely to happen next?

34.46.2 Describe strategies to maintain and enhance situational awareness.

Situational awareness should be developed before flight and continuously updated throughout the flight.

Pre-flight Preparation

Good preparation reduces workload and allows more mental capacity to be available during flight.

This includes:

• Thorough flight planning.
• Reviewing weather and wind.
• Considering terrain and obstacles.
• Identifying suitable forced landing areas.
• Checking fuel requirements and reserves.
• Reviewing aerodrome, airspace and ATC requirements.
• Considering likely threats and appropriate contingency plans.