PA.I.H — Human Factors
PA.I.H for the Private Pilot Airplane ACS: official objective, references, and 22 exact knowledge, risk-management, and skill descriptions.
FAA-S-ACS-6C, 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 | Private Pilot |
|---|---|
| Aircraft category | Airplane |
| Area of operation | Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation |
| Task | Task H. Human Factors |
| Task code prefix | PA.I.H |
| Official references | AIM; FAA-H-8083-2, FAA-H-8083-3, FAA-H-8083-25 |
| FAA document | FAA-S-ACS-6C — Private Pilot 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 personal health, flight physiology, and aeromedical and human factors related to safety of flight.
What the ACS code means
- PA identifies the ACS standard family used for this Private Pilot Airplane document.
- I identifies Preflight Preparation, the Area of Operation.
- H identifies Human Factors, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| PA.I.H.K1 | Symptoms, recognition, causes, effects, and corrective actions associated with aeromedical and physiological issues, including: | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1a | a. Hypoxia | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1b | b. Hyperventilation | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1c | c. Middle ear and sinus problems | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1d | d. Spatial disorientation | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1e | e. Motion sickness | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1f | f. Carbon monoxide poisoning | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1g | g. Stress | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1h | h. Fatigue | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1i | i. Dehydration and nutrition | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1j | j. Hypothermia | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1k | k. Optical illusions | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K1l | l. Dissolved nitrogen in the bloodstream after scuba dives | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K2 | Regulations regarding use of alcohol and drugs. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K3 | Effects of alcohol, drugs, and over-the-counter medications. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| PA.I.H.K4 | Aeronautical Decision-Making (ADM) to include using Crew Resource Management (CRM) or Single-Pilot Resource Management (SRM), as appropriate. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| PA.I.H.R1 | Aeromedical and physiological issues. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| PA.I.H.R2 | Hazardous attitudes. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| PA.I.H.R3 | 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. |
| PA.I.H.R4 | Confirmation and expectation bias. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| PA.I.H.S1 | Associate the symptoms and effects for at least three of the conditions listed in K1a through K1l with the cause(s) and corrective action(s). | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| PA.I.H.S2 | Perform self-assessment, including fitness for flight and personal minimums, for actual flight or a scenario given 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.
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 Private Pilot Airplane ACS tasks
61 task-level resources from FAA-S-ACS-6C.
- PA.I.G — Operation of Systems
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- PA.I.I — Water and Seaplane Characteristics, Seaplane Bases, Maritime Rules, and Aids to Marine Navigation (ASES, AMES)
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- PA.I.A — Pilot Qualifications
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- PA.I.B — Airworthiness Requirements
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- PA.I.C — Weather Information
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- PA.I.D — Cross-Country Flight Planning
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation