Definition
The second step of the risk management process, in which each identified hazard is evaluated to determine the level of risk it poses. Risk is assessed by judging two factors together: the likelihood that the hazard will result in a harmful event, and the severity of the consequences if it does. The combined judgment produces a risk level (commonly low, medium, or high) that informs whether the activity should proceed, be modified, or be cancelled.
Plain English
After spotting a hazard, you decide how dangerous it really is. You ask two questions: how likely is something bad to happen, and how bad would it be if it did? Putting those two answers together tells you how serious the risk is.
Context Anchor
Used in the FAA risk management process during flight planning, lesson planning, and in-flight decision-making.
Derivation
‘Assess’ comes from the Latin assidere, ‘to sit beside,’ originally meaning to sit beside a judge and help weigh a matter. That sense of weighing or judging carries straight into aviation: you are weighing how serious a hazard is before acting on it.
Why Pilots Care
Accurate assessment reveals which hazards can be accepted and which must be reduced before flight, directly affecting go/no-go decisions and in-flight workload.
Intuition Check
Do not treat “assess the risk” as just noticing that something could go wrong. In this FAA process, it means judging both how likely the problem is and how serious the result could be.
Example Sentence 1
After noting low clouds along the route, the instructor moved to Step 2: Assess the Risk, judging both the chance of encountering instrument conditions and how serious that would be for a VFR-only student.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot completed Step 2: Assess the Risk and realized the thunderstorm cells posed an unacceptable probability of severe turbulence.