Definition
The position in the cockpit occupied by the pilot flying the aircraft, where the primary flight controls, instruments, and references used for controlling and navigating the aircraft are located.
Plain English
The pilot's seat and the controls and instruments arranged around it. It is the spot in the cockpit from which the aircraft is actually flown.
Context Anchor
Seen when FAA material describes whether an instrument, warning, display, or control can be seen or used from the pilot’s normal seated position.
Derivation
Pilot comes from older words meaning a person who guides a ship. Station comes from a Latin word meaning to stand or be placed. Together, pilot station means the placed position from which the pilot guides and controls the aircraft.
Why Pilots Care
Instruments and indicators are designed to present accurate information at the pilot station. When a system fails or a sensor is blocked, what the pilot sees at their station may no longer match reality, so knowing which instruments feed the pilot station helps identify what to trust during a failure.
Intuition Check
Do not read station as a radio station, airport, or separate facility. Here it means the pilot’s working position inside the aircraft.
Example Sentence 1
The airspeed indicator at the pilot station began to read low after the pitot tube iced over.
Example Sentence 2
The checklist requires confirmation that the pilot at the station has visual access to backup instruments before continuing the approach.