Definition
The process of identifying hazards in a flight operation and taking deliberate actions to reduce the likelihood or severity of their potential consequences to an acceptable level.
Plain English
Spotting things that could go wrong on a flight and doing something about them in advance so they're less likely to cause harm, or cause less harm if they do happen.
Context Anchor
Pilots use this idea during preflight planning, go/no-go decisions, maneuver practice, and in-flight decision-making.
Derivation
Mitigate comes from the Latin mitigare, meaning to soften or make milder. In aviation, it means softening a risk -- not removing it entirely, but reducing how likely it is or how bad it could be.
Why Pilots Care
It helps pilots make safer decisions and avoid accidents by addressing potential problems before they develop.
Intuition Check
Mitigation of risk does not mean eliminating all risk. It means recognizing a risk and taking steps to reduce it to a level that is reasonable for the flight.
Example Sentence 1
The pilot chose to depart an hour earlier as a mitigation of risk against the forecast afternoon thunderstorms.
Example Sentence 2
During preflight planning, mitigation of risk included selecting a suitable alternate airport in case conditions changed at the destination.