Definition
The pilot's recognition that an automated flight control component — such as the autopilot, flight director, autothrottle, or yaw damper — is not performing as commanded or is producing erroneous outputs. This identification is the first step in deciding whether to disengage the system, revert to a lower level of automation, or continue with the malfunction managed.
Plain English
The crew noticing that a piece of automation is misbehaving and figuring out which part is at fault, so they can decide what to do about it.
Context Anchor
Seen in discussions of automatic flight control and stabilization systems, where the crew may need to recognize which function or component has failed.
Why Pilots Care
Allows timely disengagement of the faulty automation and return to manual control before the malfunction affects flight safety.
Grounding Statement
In flight, one symptom can have more than one possible cause, so the crew must connect the cockpit indication to the correct system before acting.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as simply noticing that something is wrong. In this context, it means correctly deciding which system is wrong.
Example Sentence 1
Crew identification of a faulty system was prompt: the captain noticed the autopilot was holding a slight bank despite a wings-level command and disengaged it.
Example Sentence 2
Prompt crew identification of a faulty system during approach prevented further deviation from the assigned heading.