Definition
In a two-pilot flight crew, the pilot monitoring is the crew member who is not actively manipulating the flight controls and is responsible for monitoring the flight path, aircraft systems, and the actions of the pilot flying, while handling radio communications, checklists, and other support tasks.
Plain English
The pilot who is not hand-flying or commanding the autopilot at that moment. Their job is to watch everything — the instruments, the airplane's path, and what the other pilot is doing — and to back them up by talking on the radio, running checklists, and catching mistakes.
Context Anchor
Seen in crew procedures, instrument flying, and head-up display operations, especially when one pilot is looking outside through the head-up display and the other pilot is cross-checking other information.
Derivation
Monitoring' comes from the Latin monere, meaning 'to warn' or 'to advise.' A monitor is someone who watches and warns. The pilot monitoring watches the flight and warns the pilot flying of anything that looks wrong.
Why Pilots Care
Provides essential cross-checking that catches errors the flying pilot may miss, directly supporting safe operations.
Intuition Check
Do not read monitoring as passive watching. In this cockpit role, monitoring means active checking, supporting, and speaking up when needed.
Example Sentence 1
As the pilot monitoring, the first officer called out the altitude deviation and confirmed the autopilot mode change.
Example Sentence 2
During the HUD approach briefing, the pilot monitoring confirmed the missed approach point on the chart.