AA.V.B — Clean Configuration Stall Prevention
AA.V.B for the Airline Transport Pilot Airplane ACS: official objective, references, and 21 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 V. Stall Prevention |
| Task | Task B. Clean Configuration Stall Prevention |
| Task code prefix | AA.V.B |
| Official references | AC 61-67, AC 120-109; FAA-H-8083-2, FAA-H-8083-3, FAA-H-8083-25; FSB Report (type specific); POH/AFM |
| 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 stalls in a clean configuration.
What the ACS code means
- AA identifies the ACS standard family used for this Airline Transport Pilot Airplane document.
- V identifies Stall Prevention, the Area of Operation.
- B identifies Clean Configuration Stall Prevention, 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.V.B.K1 | Aerodynamics associated with stalls in a clean configuration, including the relationship between angle of attack, airspeed, load factor, power setting, aircraft weight and balance, and aircraft attitude. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.V.B.K2 | Stall characteristics as they relate to airplane design, and recognition impending stall and full stall indications using sight, sound, or feel. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.V.B.K3 | Factors and situations that can lead to a stall during cruise flight and actions that can be taken to prevent it. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.V.B.K4 | Effects of autoflight, flight envelope protection in normal and degraded modes, and unexpected disconnects of the autopilot or autothrottle/autothrust, if applicable to the aircraft used for the evaluation. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.V.B.K5 | Fundamentals of stall recovery. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| AA.V.B.K6 | Effects of altitude on performance (e.g., thrust available) and flight control effectiveness during a recovery. | 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.V.B.R1 | Factors and situations that could lead to an inadvertent stall, spin, and loss of control during cruise flight. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.V.B.R2 | Range and limitations of stall warning indicators (e.g., aircraft buffet, stall horn, stick shaker, etc.). | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.V.B.R3 | Stall warning awareness. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.V.B.R4 | Stall recovery procedure. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.V.B.R5 | Secondary stalls, accelerated stalls, elevator trim stalls, and cross-control stalls. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.V.B.R6 | Effect of environmental elements on aircraft performance while in cruise flight as it relates to stalls (e.g., turbulence, microbursts, and high-density altitude). | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.V.B.R7 | Collision hazards including aircraft and terrain. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.V.B.R8 | Distractions, task prioritization, loss of situational awareness, or disorientation. | 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.V.B.S1 | Clear the area and select an entry altitude that allows the recovery to be completed no lower than 3,000 feet above ground level (AGL) (non-transport category airplanes) or 5,000 feet AGL (transport category airplanes). | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.V.B.S2 | [Archived] | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.V.B.S3 | While in cruise flight, maintain coordinated flight in simulated or actual instrument conditions throughout the maneuver. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.V.B.S4 | Either manually or with the autopilot engaged, smoothly adjust pitch attitude, bank angle (15°-30°), and power setting in accordance with evaluator’s instructions to an impending stall. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.V.B.S5 | Acknowledge the cue(s) and promptly recover at the first indication of an impending stall (e.g., buffet, stall horn, stick shaker, etc.). | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.V.B.S6 | Execute a stall recovery in accordance with procedures set forth in the Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH)/Flight Manual (FM). | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| AA.V.B.S7 | Return to the desired flight path as specified by the evaluator. | 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.
Official task notes
- See Appendix 2: Safety of Flight and Appendix 3: Aircraft, Equipment, and Operational Requirements & Limitations for information related to this Task.
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.V.A — Partial Flap Configuration Stall Prevention
Area of Operation V. Stall Prevention
- AA.V.C — Landing Configuration Stall Prevention
Area of Operation V. Stall Prevention