Definition
A simple grid used to assess flight risk by combining the likelihood of a hazard occurring with the severity of its consequences. The intersection of those two factors places the risk into a category — typically low, medium, or high — which guides the pilot's decision to proceed, modify, or cancel the flight.
Plain English
A small chart that helps a pilot decide how serious a risk is by asking two questions: how likely is it to happen, and how bad would it be if it did? Where those two answers meet on the chart tells the pilot how much of a problem the risk really is.
Context Anchor
Used in preflight planning, flight lessons, and instructor-student discussions when deciding whether a flight risk is acceptable or needs to be reduced.
Derivation
‘Risk’ comes from the Italian risco, meaning danger or chance of loss. ‘Matrix’ comes from the Latin matrix, meaning ‘a place where something is shaped or formed’ — later used in mathematics for a grid of values. Together it describes a grid that shapes a clear picture of risk out of two separate judgments.
Why Pilots Care
It gives pilots a consistent way to judge whether a hazard is acceptable before takeoff.
Grounding Statement
If something is both likely to happen and serious if it does, the risk matrix points to a higher risk level.
Intuition Check
A risk matrix does not prove a flight is safe. It is a decision aid that organizes risk so the pilot can make a better judgment.
Example Sentence 1
Before the cross-country, the student used a risk matrix to weigh the forecast crosswind and decided the flight fell into the medium-risk category.
Example Sentence 2
Placing the identified hazards on the risk matrix showed the flight could proceed with extra fuel.