Definition
A recognized symptom of fatigue in which a pilot or learner unconsciously narrows attention to one main task and stops attending to other tasks that should still be running in the background, such as scanning instruments, monitoring radios, or maintaining situational awareness.
Plain English
When you're tired, your brain quietly drops the smaller jobs you should still be doing and locks onto just one thing. You don't notice you've stopped doing the other tasks until something goes wrong.
Context Anchor
Seen in fatigue and human performance discussions, especially when describing how tired pilots may lose awareness of routine cockpit duties.
Derivation
Neglect comes from a Latin word meaning to disregard or leave something unattended. Secondary means second in order or support position. Together, the phrase points to supporting tasks being left unattended, not because they are unimportant, but because tired attention has narrowed.
Why Pilots Care
It signals narrowing attention that can lead to missed radio calls, forgotten checklists, or incomplete situational awareness.
Grounding Statement
A tired pilot may still be able to steer and hold altitude while failing to notice the smaller checks that keep the flight safe.
Intuition Check
Do not read secondary as unimportant. Here, secondary tasks are supporting tasks, and missing them can still create a serious safety problem.
Example Sentence 1
The instructor noted that the student's neglect of secondary tasks, missed radio calls and an unscanned altimeter, was a clear sign of fatigue late in the lesson.
Example Sentence 2
Fatigue showed up as neglect of secondary tasks when the student forgot to complete the before-landing checklist.