# AA.II.A — Preflight Assessment — Airline Transport Pilot Airplane ACS

> AA.II.A from FAA-S-ACS-11A, including the official objective, references, notes, and 28 exact knowledge, risk-management, and skill descriptions.

Canonical HTML: [https://www.check-ride.ai/acs/airplane/airline-transport-pilot/aa-ii-a](https://www.check-ride.ai/acs/airplane/airline-transport-pilot/aa-ii-a)

Site reference: [https://www.check-ride.ai/llms.txt](https://www.check-ride.ai/llms.txt)

## Official Task context

- FAA document: Airline Transport Pilot and Type Rating for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards
- Identifier: FAA-S-ACS-11A
- Published source date: November 2023
- Aircraft category: Airplane
- Certificate or rating: Airline Transport Pilot
- Area of Operation: Area of Operation II. Preflight Procedures
- Task: Task A. Preflight Assessment
- Task code prefix: AA.II.A
- Official references: 14 CFR parts 43, 61, 63, 71, 91, 97, 117, 119, 121, 135; AC 120-27, AC 120-60, AC 135-17, AIM, FAA-H-8083-2, FAA-H-8083-3, FAA-H-8083-23, FAA-H-8083-25, FAA-H-8083-28; POH/AFM
- FAA source library: https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/acs

## Official Task objective

To determine the applicant exhibits satisfactory knowledge, risk management, and skills associated with preparation for safe flight.

## Knowledge elements

- **AA.II.A.K1** — Pilot self-assessment.
- **AA.II.A.K2** — Determining that the aircraft to be used is appropriate, airworthy, and in a condition for safe flight by locating and explaining related documents such as:
- **AA.II.A.K2a** — a. Airworthiness and registration certificates
- **AA.II.A.K2b** — b. Operating limitations, handbooks, and manuals
- **AA.II.A.K2c** — c. Minimum Equipment List (MEL) and Configuration Deviation List (CDL), Kinds of Operations Equipment Lists (KOEL)
- **AA.II.A.K2d** — d. Weight and balance data
- **AA.II.A.K2e** — e. Required inspections or tests and appropriate records and documentation (e.g., dispatch release) as applicable to the proposed flight or operation
- **AA.II.A.K3** — Preventive maintenance that can be performed by the pilot or other designated crewmember.
- **AA.II.A.K4** — Aircraft preflight inspection, including:
- **AA.II.A.K4a** — a. Which items should be inspected
- **AA.II.A.K4b** — b. The reasons for checking each item
- **AA.II.A.K4c** — c. How to detect possible defects
- **AA.II.A.K4d** — d. The associated regulations
- **AA.II.A.K5** — Environmental factors, including weather, terrain, route selection, and obstructions.
- **AA.II.A.K6** — Requirements for current and appropriate navigation data.
- **AA.II.A.K7** — Operations specifications, management specifications, or letters of authorization applying to a particular aircraft and operation, if applicable.

## Risk management elements

- **AA.II.A.R1** — Human performance factors.
- **AA.II.A.R2** — Inoperative equipment discovered prior to flight.
- **AA.II.A.R3** — Environment (e.g., weather, airports, airspace, terrain, obstacles).
- **AA.II.A.R4** — External pressures.
- **AA.II.A.R5** — Aviation security concerns.

## Skills elements

- **AA.II.A.S1** — Inspect the aircraft in accordance with an appropriate checklist demonstrating proper operation of applicable airplane systems. Coordinate checklist with crew, if appropriate.
- **AA.II.A.S2** — Coordinate with ground crew and ensure adequate clearance prior to moving doors, hatches, flight control surfaces, etc.
- **AA.II.A.S3** — Document any discrepancies found; take corrective action and acknowledge limitations imposed by MEL/CDL items, if applicable.
- **AA.II.A.S4** — Determine if the aircraft is airworthy and in condition for safe flight.
- **AA.II.A.S5** — Identify and comply with operations specifications as required.
- **AA.II.A.S6** — Assess factors related to the environment (weather, airports, terrain, airspace).
- **AA.II.A.S7** — Ensure the airplane and surfaces are free of ice, snow, and frost. If icing conditions are present, demonstrate satisfactory knowledge of deicing procedures.

## Difficulty methodology

Difficulty calibration is ongoing for this Task. Observed difficulty is a privacy-thresholded check-ride.ai mock-oral practice proxy, not an FAA practical-test pass or fail rate. Underlying sample sizes and the private reporting threshold are not published.

## Official Task notes

- See Appendix 3: Aircraft, Equipment, and Operational Requirements & Limitations for information related to this Task.

## Use in practice

A mock examiner can ask a pilot to explain the published elements, apply them to the configured aircraft and airport context, identify risks, and defend a decision. Practice prompts are not represented as actual FAA examiner scripts or predictions of the questions a candidate will receive.