Plain English Meaning

Spotting what could go wrong, deciding how serious it is, and then doing something about it to make the flight safer.

Full Definition

The process of identifying hazards associated with a flight or training activity, assessing the level of risk each one presents, and then taking deliberate action to reduce that risk to an acceptable level before and during the operation.

Context Anchor

Seen in preflight planning, flight instruction, go/no-go decisions, and any situation where a pilot or instructor decides how to make a flight safer before proceeding.

Derivation

‘Mitigate’ comes from the Latin mitigare, meaning ‘to soften or make milder.’ In it means softening the impact of a — not necessarily eliminating it, but reducing how likely it is to hurt you or how badly it could.