Plain English Meaning
You forget things you just heard or just did, even though they only happened seconds or minutes ago.
Full Definition
A fatigue-related lapse in which a pilot fails to retain or recall information they encountered only moments earlier, such as a clearance, frequency, altitude assignment, or checklist item just read or heard.
Context Anchor
Seen in fatigue discussions, especially when judging whether a pilot or student is still alert enough to keep training or flying safely.
Derivation
‘Spotty’ means uneven or patchy — working in some places and failing in others. ‘Short-term memory’ is the brain’s ability to hold information for a short period (seconds to minutes). Together the phrase describes a memory that works in patches: some things stick, others vanish.
Why Pilots Care
It directly impairs a pilot's ability to maintain situational awareness and increases the chance of operational errors.
Grounding Statement
A pilot may hear something clearly, but a few moments later only part of it is still available in memory.
Intuition Check
Spotty short-term memory does not mean the pilot is careless or unintelligent. In this context, it means fatigue may be making recent information unreliable.
Example Sentence 1
After the third leg of the day, the pilot noticed spotty short-term memory — he had to ask ATC twice for the same clearance — and decided to call it a day.
Example Sentence 2
Spotty short-term memory appeared during the cross-country leg after several hours of continuous flying.