I love the PAVE checklist. I remember being a student pilot and struggling immensely to remember all these different ideas and acronyms we hear and learn about: ATOMATOFLAMES, FLAPS, SPARROW, AAV1ATE, IMSAFE, NWKRAFT, etc. Even with non-acronym things like pilot currency, required documents, and so much more. A big part of why these can sometimes be difficult to learn is because we don’t have a context for what they are, why they matter, and how they are connected.

Introduce: the PAVE checklist, which connects each and every one of those ideas into one acronym. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to provide meaning and context to the things we learn.

What is PAVE? PAVE is an acronym that helps pilots mitigate risk by perceiving hazards. These risks are divided into four categories:

P: Pilot

A: Airplane

V: enVironment

E: External factors

Each of these aspects are key to ensuring safe outcomes for each of our flights. Let’s break each of these down into their components.

Pilot

The pilot obviously describes you. We all think about the acronym IMSAFE (Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, and Emotion) and can see how this is a key idea within this “Pilot” category, but what other factors might be involved in identifying hazards here?

Proficiency and Currency are obviously very key ideas. Currency describes the act of being legal to fly. This includes having a current Flight Review, as well as being current on your 90 day landings to carry passengers. It can also include being instrument current (6HITS). If you’re flying more advanced aircraft, you may need recurrent training in that aircraft as well! Some manufacturers like Cirrus have manufacturer imposed currency requirements placed upon the pilots.

Proficiency describes the skills, knowledge, and confidence of the pilot to be safe. It is the act of being “proficient”, or otherwise able to perform the abilities of a pilot with “expert correctness” (FAA P-8740-36).

You might also include things like required pilot documents: a current medical, valid government issued photo ID, and pilot certificate. Not that a logbook is only required for student pilots so they can show their endorsements while on a solo flight.

Within the medical realm, one can go into depth with aeromedical factors, such as conditions that may be disqualifying, SODAs or Special Issuance medicals, classes of medical (duration, privilege), no-fly medication. One could also discuss illusions (ICEFLAGS) a pilot experiences while flying.

As you can see, this can go pretty in depth!

Airplane

As pilots, the airplane is very important to us. But when we are student pilots, we are handed a bunch of acronyms to memorize: ATOMATOFLAMES, FLAPS, AAVIATE, GRABCARD, SPARROWED, and more. This doesn’t even factor in the numerous regulations we have to learn such as 91.205, 91.213, and even the preventative maintenance items of Part 43 Appendix A.

Like before, it is helpful to connect these ideas to something more meaningful. Airplane. What do we need for our airplane to be airworthy? As we know, airworthiness is when a plane conforms to it’s type certificate and has it’s required airworthiness directives and maintenance requirements met. So what are those maintenance requirements? AAVIATES (Airworthiness Directives, Annual, VOR, 100 hour, Altimeter, Transponder, ELT, Static System). Be sure to be able to explain the durations, validity, requirements, and other aspects for each of these, including who can do the inspections and if there are any exceptions to needing them to be done!

Can we fly without anything on the plane? No, of course not, we have to have the documents described with the acronym SPARROW (Supplements, Placards, Airworthiness Certificate, Registration (Federal but State registrations if required), Radio Operator Certificate (both for the plane and pilot when operating internationally), the Operating Handbook (POH/AFM) and the limitations within, and the actual Weight and Balance of the aircraft).

Reminder that the W/B required in the plane is not computed by the pilot, but rather by the manufacturer or A&P that re-weighed the plane and updated the AFM. There is actually no “requirement” for the pilot to have in their possession or compute the weight and balance of the aircraft. The pilot must simply be “familiar” with the aspects relevant to the flight, including the weight. See 14 CFR 91.103.

One can also go into required equipment, and what would be necessary to do if any piece of equipment was inoperative!

Once again, there’s so much that can be included within this section!

enVironment

One of the most overlooked regulations is 91.103, which describes preflight action required before a flight. While this technically is only a requirement for IFR flight or one not within the vicinity of an airport, it’s a valuable framework to base all of one’s preflight preparation around. The acronym commonly used for this is NWKRAFT.

• NOTAMS

• Weather

• Known ATC Delays

• Runway Lengths

• Alternates (IFR, but again, having “outs” is a great habit to build even as a VFR pilot)

• Fuel Requirements (30 min for VFR Day, 45 for IFR and VFR Night)

• Takeoff and Landing Data

Indeed, the main factor involved here is the weather. You can connect much of your learning back to this acronym to constantly provide additional pathways to giving what you learn meaning. This is key to bringing your knowledge from the rote or understanding levels to the application or correlation level that is being tested during your checkrides!

External Factors

So admittedly there isn’t any great acronyms for this one, mainly because it’s not very concrete. However, it is still very important to consider factors that might influence our ability to handle hazards.

Some of the most problematic could be things that bring out hazardous attitudes, such as peer pressure encouraging a “macho” attitude.

Other factors like a headset battery dying resulting in a pilot’s difficulty to hear ATC communications can be external factors.

Pressure from passengers, a boss, or other individuals can influence a pilot’s decision making as well (often for the worse).

These factors can be mitigated through the use of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), having an “out” (alternates, talking to ATC, ensuring adequate fuel), as well as ensuring passenger expectations are managed.

Feel free to check out more information the FAA has published on this acronym. It’s a very common one, mentioned in the PHAK, AIH, and many other FAA resources. It’s actually is even a required element of Task G for the Flight Instructor Practical Test Standards (PTS). If you want some quick additional reading, here’s a great document solely just about PAVE.