Definition
An FAA-published Advisory Circular titled 'Aeronautical Decision Making' that provides pilots with a structured framework for recognizing and managing the human factors that influence in-flight decisions. It introduces concepts such as hazardous attitudes, risk assessment, stress management, and the decision-making process, and is intended as guidance material rather than regulation.
Plain English
An FAA guidance document that teaches pilots how to make better decisions in the cockpit by recognizing the mental and emotional traps that lead to bad choices.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA handbooks and training discussions about pilot judgment, risk management, and decision-making.
Derivation
An 'Advisory Circular' is exactly what it sounds like — a circulated document offering advice. The FAA uses ACs to share recommended practices and explain how to comply with regulations, without the force of law itself. The number '60-22' is just the FAA's filing system: the '60' series covers airmen, and '22' is the specific document.
Why Pilots Care
Understanding the concepts in this circular helps pilots recognize and reduce errors that lead to accidents.
Intuition Check
Advisory does not mean unimportant here. It means the FAA is giving official guidance, even though the document is usually not a regulation by itself.
Example Sentence 1
The instructor based the ground lesson on AC 60-22, walking through each of the five hazardous attitudes and how to counter them.
Example Sentence 2
During the lesson the student applied ideas from AC 60-22 to evaluate weather and personal readiness.