Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Preliminary Comparison Of Pilots' Weather Minimums And Actual Decision-Making, Nathan W. Walters, Mattie Milner, Daniel A. Marte, Evan A. Adkins, Marie Aidonidis, Matt B. Pierce, Abigail K. Pasmore, Angela Roccasecca, Stephen Rice, Scott R. Winter

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Adverse weather conditions remain a leading contributing factor in general aviation accidents. In compromising situations, such as severe weather, pilots continue to make decisions, which endanger themselves, passengers, and the aircraft. Although technology and training have lowered the risks associated with poor decision making by aviators, they are often still faced with scenarios requiring split second judgments. A countermeasure to these risks is the use of personal weather minimums by pilots. The purpose of this study was to examine pilot’s decision-making and performance, while flying an instrument approach, under extreme conditions of low visibility and ceiling as based on their …