Definition
The process of identifying hazards associated with a flight or training activity, judging how likely each one is to cause harm and how serious that harm would be, and then deciding whether to accept, reduce, transfer, or avoid the risk.
Plain English
Looking at what could go wrong before and during a flight, working out how bad it could be and how likely it is, and then deciding what to do about it.
Context Anchor
Seen in preflight planning, flight training discussions, go/no-go decisions, and any situation where a pilot or instructor must decide whether the flight can be conducted safely.
Derivation
From the Old French 'assesser', meaning to set or fix a value, and 'risk', from the Italian 'risco', meaning danger or chance of loss. Together: putting a value on the danger so you can decide what to do about it.
Why Pilots Care
It enables pilots to make informed decisions that reduce the chance of accidents by spotting and mitigating dangers before flight.
Intuition Check
Assessing risk is not just having a feeling that something is safe or unsafe. In FAA training, it means deliberately looking at specific dangers, how serious they are, and what decision should follow.
Example Sentence 1
Before the cross-country flight, the instructor walked the student through assessing risk by reviewing weather, fatigue, aircraft condition, and the student's recent experience.
Example Sentence 2
During the briefing the instructor emphasized assessing risk with the PAVE checklist to identify issues that could affect the flight.