AA.I.H — Water and Seaplane Characteristics, Seaplane Bases, Maritime Rules, and Aids to Marine
AA.I.H for the Airline Transport Pilot Airplane ACS: official objective, references, and 29 exact knowledge, risk-management, and skill descriptions.
FAA-S-ACS-11A, November 2023. This study page does not replace the current FAA publication or an examiner's plan of action.
Official task context
| Certificate or rating | Airline Transport Pilot |
|---|---|
| Aircraft category | Airplane |
| Area of operation | Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation |
| Task | Task H. Water and Seaplane Characteristics, Seaplane Bases, Maritime Rules, and Aids to Marine |
| Task code prefix | AA.I.H |
| Official references | AIM; Chart Supplements; FAA-H-8083-2, FAA-H-8083-3, FAA-H-8083-23, FAA-H-8083-25; POH/AFM; USCG Navigation Rules |
| FAA document | FAA-S-ACS-11A — Airline Transport Pilot and Type Rating for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards |
| FAA source library | Open the official ACS library |
Official task objective
To determine the applicant exhibits satisfactory knowledge, risk management, and skills associated with water and seaplane characteristics, seaplane bases, maritime rules, and aids to marine navigation.
What the ACS code means
- AA identifies the ACS standard family used for this Airline Transport Pilot Airplane document.
- I identifies Preflight Preparation, the Area of Operation.
- H identifies Water and Seaplane Characteristics, Seaplane Bases, Maritime Rules, and Aids to Marine, the Task within that Area.
- K, R, and S identify knowledge, risk-management, and skill elements. The number selects the item; a trailing lowercase letter identifies a listed sub-element.
Knowledge elements
| ACS code | Official description | How a mock oral can probe it |
|---|---|---|
| AA.I.H.K1 | The characteristics of a water surface as affected by features, such as: | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K1a | a. Size and location | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K1b | b. Protected and unprotected areas | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K1c | c. Surface wind | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K1d | d. Direction and strength of water current | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K1e | e. Floating and partially submerged debris | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K1f | f. Sandbars, islands, and shoals | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K1g | g. Vessel traffic and wakes | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K1h | h. Other characteristics specific to the area | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K1i | i. Direction and height of waves | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K2 | Float and hull construction, and its effect on seaplane performance. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K3 | Causes of porpoising and skipping, and the pilot action needed to prevent or correct these occurrences. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K4 | How to locate and identify seaplane bases on charts or in directories. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K5 | Operating restrictions at various bases. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K6 | Right-of-way, steering, and sailing rules pertinent to seaplane operation. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K7 | Marine navigation aids, such as buoys, beacons, lights, sound signals, and range markers. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K8 | Naval vessel protection zones. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.I.H.K9 | No wake zones. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
Risk management elements
| ACS code | Official description | How a mock oral can probe it |
|---|---|---|
| AA.I.H.R1 | Local conditions. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.I.H.R2 | Impact of marine traffic. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.I.H.R3 | Right-of-way and sailing rules pertinent to seaplane operations. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.I.H.R4 | Limited services and assistance available at seaplane bases. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
Skills elements
| ACS code | Official description | How a mock oral can probe it |
|---|---|---|
| AA.I.H.S1 | Explain how float and hull construction can affect seaplane performance. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.I.H.S2 | Describe how to correct for porpoising and skipping. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.I.H.S3 | Locate seaplane bases on charts or in directories and identify any restrictions. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.I.H.S4 | Identify marine navigation aids. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.I.H.S5 | Describe what naval vessel protection zones and no wake zones are. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.I.H.S6 | Assess the water surface characteristics for the proposed flight. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.I.H.S7 | Perform correct right-of-way, steering, and sailing operations. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
Difficulty data
Difficulty calibration is ongoing for this Task. A difficulty estimate is published only with a sufficiently large, privacy-preserving first directly recorded assessment sample. Any observed difficulty comes from Checkride AI mock-oral practice assessments and is a practice-data proxy, not an FAA practical-test pass or fail rate.
Difficulty calibration remains ongoing until an item clears the private reporting threshold. Percentages, when available, describe the share who needed review on their first directly recorded assessment. Underlying sample sizes are never published, and historical final states are not backfilled into this measure.
How to use this in a mock oral
A mock examiner can ask you to explain the published elements, apply them to the configured aircraft and airport scenario, identify risks, and defend a decision. The prompts are practice scenarios; they are not claimed to be actual FAA examiner scripts or a prediction of the questions you will receive.
Related ACS tasks
- All Airline Transport Pilot Airplane ACS tasks
48 task-level resources from FAA-S-ACS-11A.
- AA.I.G — The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (ATP)
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- AA.II.A — Preflight Assessment
Area of Operation II. Preflight Procedures
- AA.I.A — Operation of Systems
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- AA.I.B — Performance and Limitations
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- AA.I.C — Weather Information (ATP)
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- AA.I.D — High-Altitude Aerodynamics (ATP) (AMEL, AMES)
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation