21 Operations, Human Factors & Emergencies Practice Questions & Answers

1. 1. During a two-person mapping flight, the remote pilot in command combines the visual observer's callouts, the control station's telemetry readout, and the site's obstacle survey to decide when to break off a pass. This is the clearest illustration of which concept?

   • A.Crew resource management — the effective use of all available resources: human, hardware and information✓ Answer
   • B.Aeronautical decision-making, which replaces the need for crew coordination
   • C.Task saturation, because the pilot is monitoring several sources at once
   • D.Automation management, because the telemetry display is doing most of the work

   CRM is a component of aeronautical decision-making and is defined as the effective use of all available resources: human resources (crew and ground personnel), hardware (the aircraft, control station and displays), and information (surveys, charts, weather). Drawing on all three streams to reach one decision is the textbook application; automation management and situational awareness are separate SRM elements.

   Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Remote Pilot Study Guide, Ch. 10 (ADM/CRM); ACS code UA.V.D.K2Report a problem with this question

2. 2. A crew briefs roles and emergency actions before launch, but once the aircraft is airborne no one coordinates further, and there is no debrief afterward. What is the problem with this practice?

   • A.Nothing — CRM is expected only when three or more crewmembers are used
   • B.Nothing — CRM deals only with radio communication involving manned aircraft
   • C.CRM is meant to be integrated into all phases of the operation: preflight, flight and postflight✓ Answer
   • D.Nothing — CRM applies only to the preflight planning phase

   Coordination has to continue while the aircraft is flying, when hazards actually develop, and afterward, when the crew captures what went wrong and feeds it back into procedures. Confining CRM to the briefing turns it into a formality and leaves the highest-workload period uncoordinated.

   Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 10; AC 107-2A Ch. 7 (CRM); ACS code UA.V.D.K2Report a problem with this question

3. 3. You are the remote pilot in command of a crew that includes one visual observer and a separate person manipulating the controls. Which arrangement best reflects sound crew practice?

   • A.The observer must be able to see the aircraft well enough to know its location, attitude, altitude and direction of flight, and the method of communication among all three people is agreed on before flight✓ Answer
   • B.The observer may track the aircraft on the control station's moving map as long as the aircraft stays within about a mile
   • C.The observer's only job is to watch for bystanders on the ground; the person on the controls alone keeps the aircraft in sight
   • D.Communication can be worked out in flight, since the crew will be standing close together anyway

   A visual observer only adds safety if he or she is actually seeing the aircraft in enough detail to judge its position and flight path, and if the callouts reach the pilot reliably. Because a warning is useless if it arrives late or is misunderstood, the phrasing and the means of communication — voice, headset, or hand signals — must be settled before launch, not improvised while the aircraft is drifting toward a hazard.

   Source: AC 107-2A paras. 5.3 and 5.6 (visual observer duties and effective communication); ACS codes UA.V.D.K3, UA.V.D.K4Report a problem with this question

4. 4. A remote pilot notices coworkers gathering to watch and decides to fly a fast, low pass close to a building to show what the aircraft can do. Which hazardous attitude is this, and what is its antidote?

   • A.Macho — 'Taking chances is foolish'✓ Answer
   • B.Impulsivity — 'Not so fast, think first'
   • C.Resignation — 'I'm not helpless, I can make a difference'
   • D.Invulnerability — 'It could happen to me'

   Taking risks in order to impress or prove something to others is the defining pattern of the macho attitude, and its antidote is the reminder that taking chances is foolish. The first step in dealing with any of the five attitudes is to recognize the thought as it occurs and consciously label it, then state the antidote.

   Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 10, five hazardous attitudes and antidotes; ACS code UA.V.D.K1Report a problem with this question

5. 5. With daylight fading, a client tells the crew to 'just launch now and sort out the details later.' The pilot immediately picks up the controller and takes off without finishing the checklist. Which hazardous attitude does the pilot's response show?

   • A.Anti-authority — a rejection of the client's instruction
   • B.Resignation — a belief that the outcome is out of the pilot's hands
   • C.Impulsivity — the urge to do something, anything, immediately rather than think first✓ Answer
   • D.Macho — the urge to prove the flight can be done

   Acting the instant pressure is applied, without pausing to think the situation through, is impulsivity; the antidote is 'Not so fast, think first.' The client's deadline is an external pressure, and abandoning a checklist because of it is exactly the failure that personal standard operating procedures are meant to prevent.

   Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 10 (hazardous attitudes; external pressures); ACS code UA.V.D.K1Report a problem with this question

6. 6. 'I've flown this same rooftop a hundred times and nothing has ever gone wrong, so walking the site again today would be a waste of time.' This reasoning is an example of which attitude and antidote?

   • A.Resignation — 'I'm not helpless, I can make a difference'
   • B.Anti-authority — 'Follow the rules, they are usually right'
   • C.Invulnerability — 'It could happen to me'✓ Answer
   • D.Macho — 'Taking chances is foolish'

   Treating past good outcomes as proof that an accident cannot happen to you is invulnerability, and the antidote is the deliberate reminder that it could happen to me. The reasoning is also factually unsound: a familiar site changes between visits — new cranes, parked vehicles, temporary crowds — which is precisely what a fresh survey is meant to catch.

   Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 10 (hazardous attitudes and antidotes); ACS code UA.V.D.K1Report a problem with this question

7. 7. One pilot thinks 'those procedures don't really apply to a job like this,' while a crewmember thinks 'there's nothing I can do about it anyway.' Which pairing of antidotes is correct?

   • A.'Not so fast, think first' for the first, and 'Taking chances is foolish' for the second
   • B.'Taking chances is foolish' for the first, and 'Not so fast, think first' for the second
   • C.'Follow the rules, they are usually right' for the first, and 'I'm not helpless, I can make a difference' for the second✓ Answer
   • D.'It could happen to me' for the first, and 'Follow the rules, they are usually right' for the second

   Dismissing established procedure as inapplicable is anti-authority, countered by the reminder that the rules are usually right; believing you cannot influence the outcome is resignation, countered by the reminder that you are not helpless and can make a difference. Resignation is especially corrosive in a crew, because a resigned observer stops speaking up and the pilot loses a safety resource.

   Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 10, hazardous attitude/antidote table; ACS code UA.V.D.K1Report a problem with this question

8. 8. Late in a long inspection flight, the pilot stops responding to the observer, fixates on the camera feed, and misses two altitude callouts. What is the best reading of this, and the best immediate action?

   • A.The observer is being distracting and should stop making altitude callouts
   • B.This workload is normal for inspection work and requires no change
   • C.The pilot is task saturated; shed or delegate the non-essential tasks — hand off the camera work, or land and reset before continuing✓ Answer
   • D.The pilot is demonstrating good automation management and should be left to concentrate

   The recognizable signs of task saturation are fixation, dropped communication, and missed items that would normally be caught. Once workload exceeds capacity, performance falls off sharply rather than gradually, so the remedy is to reduce the load — delegate, staff the crew adequately, or interrupt the flight — rather than to remove the very callouts that are catching the errors.

   Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 10 (task management and workload); ACS code UA.V.D.K5Report a problem with this question

9. 9. In preflight planning you list: your own lingering head cold, an aircraft with one marginal battery, gusty wind funneling through a canyon, and a client waiting on a hard deadline. Which framework is this, and where does the deadline belong?

   • A.IMSAFE; the deadline is the 'M' element
   • B.PAVE; the deadline belongs under Aircraft
   • C.DECIDE; the deadline is the 'D' step
   • D.PAVE; the deadline is an External pressure✓ Answer

   PAVE sorts preflight risk into Pilot-in-command, Aircraft, enVironment and External pressures, and a client's deadline is the classic external pressure. Sorting risks this way is useful because it forces the pilot to notice that several small items from different categories are stacking up, which is how most accident sequences begin.

   Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 10, PAVE checklist; ACS code UA.V.D.K5Report a problem with this question

10. 10. You slept badly, took the first dose of a new over-the-counter antihistamine this morning, and are still rattled by an argument. Which self-assessment checklist covers all three, and what does it indicate?

    • A.PAVE — it addresses only the aircraft and the environment, so none of these matter
    • B.DECIDE — it tells you to choose an alternative and continue the flight
    • C.IMSAFE — Medication, Fatigue and Emotion are each disqualifying considerations, and the sedating antihistamine alone is reason to postpone✓ Answer
    • D.CARE — it applies only after the flight has already begun

    IMSAFE stands for Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue and Emotion. Sedating antihistamines produce drowsiness and slowed thinking and have a long half-life, which is why the standard guidance is to wait at least 48 hours after the first dose of any new medication — over-the-counter or prescription — to see how it affects you before operating an aircraft.

    Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 9 (medications) and Ch. 10 (IMSAFE); ACS code UA.V.E.K4Report a problem with this question

11. 11. You divert a survey line because of an unexpected crane, then deliberately check whether the new line actually solved the problem. Which element of the DECIDE model is that final check, and why does it matter?

    • A.Evaluate — the model is a continuous loop, so the outcome of each action is checked and feeds the next cycle✓ Answer
    • B.Detect — the change of plan is itself the detection step
    • C.Estimate — you are estimating the value of the new line
    • D.Do — carrying out the diversion completes the process

    DECIDE runs Detect, Estimate, Choose, Identify, Do, Evaluate, and the Evaluate step is what makes it a loop rather than a one-time decision. Skipping it is how a pilot ends up committed to a fix that quietly made things worse, because no one confirmed the hazard was actually removed.

    Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 10, DECIDE model; ACS code UA.V.D.K5Report a problem with this question

12. 12. Of the risk categories a remote pilot manages, which one is described as the single most important key to risk management, and why?

    • A.Aircraft condition, because hardware failures cause the majority of accidents
    • B.External pressure, because it is the one category that can cause a pilot to ignore all the other risk factors✓ Answer
    • C.Weather, because it is the least predictable of the categories
    • D.Crew experience, because it cannot be changed on the day of the flight

    Management of external pressure is called the single most important key to risk management precisely because it is the one risk category that can push a pilot to disregard every other one — a pilot who feels compelled to finish the job will fly the marginal battery into the gusty canyon. Personal standard operating procedures and pre-set personal minimums are the standard mitigation, because they are decided in advance when no one is pressing.

    Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 10, 'Managing External Pressures'; ACS code UA.V.D.K5Report a problem with this question

13. 13. After a 15-hour drive you arrive at the job site and tell yourself that your experience will let you push through the tiredness. What is the correct understanding of fatigue?

    • A.Fatigue degrades physical strength but leaves judgment and attention intact
    • B.Caffeine restores the reaction time and judgment that fatigue has taken away
    • C.Experienced pilots reliably recognize fatigue in themselves and can compensate for it
    • D.Fatigue is an impaired state that pilots detect poorly in themselves, and no amount of training, experience or willpower overcomes it — only adequate rest prevents it✓ Answer

    Fatigue is treated as an impaired state, and its danger is that the same impairment degrades the self-assessment needed to notice it. If fatigue sets in during an operation, no amount of training or experience overcomes its effects; skill fatigue in particular disrupts the timing of practiced actions and narrows the perceptual field so the pilot tunnels on the center of vision and neglects the periphery.

    Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 9, acute/chronic and skill fatigue; ACS code UA.V.E.K6Report a problem with this question

14. 14. You are working a long summer shoot in heat and wind, drinking mostly coffee. What is the first noticeable effect of dehydration, and why is thirst a poor warning system?

    • A.Fatigue; the thirst mechanism does not trigger until a significant deficit already exists and it switches off before rehydration is complete✓ Answer
    • B.Nausea; thirst is a reliable indicator but is easy to ignore while busy
    • C.Blurred vision; thirst is suppressed entirely in windy conditions
    • D.Muscle cramps; thirst appears as soon as any fluid is lost

    The first noticeable effect of dehydration is fatigue, which then makes top physical and mental performance difficult, and dizziness, weakness, nausea and cramps follow. Thirst is unreliable because it does not begin until a substantial deficit has accumulated and it stops before the body is replenished, so the practical defense is scheduled drinking — roughly two to four quarts of water per 24 hours, more in heat — while recognizing that coffee, tea and other caffeinated drinks act as diuretics and add to the loss.

    Source: FAA-G-8082-22 Ch. 9, Dehydration and Heatstroke; ACS code UA.V.E.K7Report a problem with this question

15. 15. Before the first flight of the day at an unfamiliar site, what is the soundest preparation for a loss of the control link?

    • A.Assume the aircraft will simply hover in place until the link is restored
    • B.Plan to walk or drive toward the aircraft, accepting the loss of visual line of sight, in order to re-establish the link
    • C.Know and verify the aircraft's programmed lost-link behavior, and set a return-to-home altitude that clears every obstacle between the working area and the launch point✓ Answer
    • D.Leave the factory default return altitude in place, since the manufacturer knows the aircraft best

    Lost-link behavior differs between aircraft and between configurations — return-to-home, hover, or automatic land — so the response is only predictable if the pilot has verified it and matched it to the site. A return altitude left at a default value is the common cause of an autonomous return flying into a building or tower, and abandoning visual line of sight to chase the aircraft trades one emergency for a larger one.

    Source: AC 107-2A Ch. 7 (emergency planning, loss of control link); ACS code UA.V.C.K3Report a problem with this question

16. 16. Mid-flight beside a large steel structure, the aircraft's satellite count drops sharply and position hold is lost. What should the remote pilot expect and do?

    • A.Position hold may degrade and the aircraft may drift with the wind while automatic return may be unavailable — be ready to fly it manually by visual reference back to a clear landing area✓ Answer
    • B.The aircraft will automatically hold position using barometric altitude and the magnetic compass
    • C.Loss of satellites also means loss of the control link, so no pilot action is possible
    • D.Automatic return-to-home becomes more accurate, because the aircraft switches to dead reckoning

    Satellite navigation is what holds a multirotor over a fixed point; without it the aircraft holds attitude but not position, so wind carries it away and automated functions that depend on knowing where home is may not work. Large metal structures, canyons and other reflective or obstructing surroundings degrade reception, which is why manual proficiency and a pre-identified clear landing area are part of preflight planning rather than something improvised in the moment.

    Source: AC 107-2A Ch. 7 (loss of GPS); ACS code UA.V.C.K4Report a problem with this question

17. 17. During preflight you find that one flight battery is slightly swollen, although it still holds a charge. What is the correct action and the reason for it?

    • A.Use it for one short flight, since it still holds a charge and will be discarded afterward
    • B.Charge it fully first, since a full pack is less likely to fail in flight
    • C.Remove it from service and do not fly, charge or store it with good packs, because swelling indicates internal damage that can lead to thermal runaway✓ Answer
    • D.Fly it until depleted to relieve the internal pressure, then dispose of it

    Swelling, punctures and dents are outward signs that cells have been damaged, and a damaged lithium cell can enter thermal runaway — a self-sustaining reaction that generates its own heat and oxygen and re-ignites after the visible flame is knocked down. Sound practice is to charge attended, at the manufacturer's rate, on a non-flammable surface and never in a hot vehicle, and to retire any damaged pack rather than cycling it one more time.

    Source: AC 107-2A Ch. 7 and FAA SAFOs 09013/10017/15010 (lithium battery hazards); ACS code UA.V.C.K2Report a problem with this question

18. 18. Why does briefing an emergency landing area and an agreed response before launch reduce harm when a motor fails in flight?

    • A.Because a clear area and an agreed response are chosen while workload is low, so the crew does not have to invent a plan at the moment stress and workload are highest✓ Answer
    • B.Because it transfers responsibility for handling the emergency to the visual observer
    • C.Because the aircraft's flight controller will complete the landing without pilot input once a failure is detected
    • D.Because a pre-briefed plan eliminates the possibility of a motor failure occurring

    Decision quality falls sharply under sudden stress and high workload, and a partially disabled aircraft gives the pilot only seconds. Choosing the landing area, the route to it and who says what during calm preflight planning converts an improvised decision into recall, which shortens reaction time and keeps a descending aircraft away from people and vehicles.

    Source: AC 107-2A Ch. 7 (emergency procedures and preflight briefing); ACS codes UA.V.C.K1, UA.V.D.K5Report a problem with this question

19. 19. Who is responsible for determining that the small unmanned aircraft is in a condition for safe operation before each flight, and what does a proper propeller check include?

    • A.The manufacturer, whose factory testing certifies the aircraft as airworthy for its service life
    • B.The registered owner, who must inspect the aircraft once at the start of each season
    • C.The remote pilot in command; inspect each propeller for nicks, cracks, delamination and secure mounting, and replace a damaged blade rather than repairing it✓ Answer
    • D.The visual observer, because the observer is the crewmember not occupied with the controls

    The duty to check the aircraft before each flight and to decline the flight if it is not in a condition for safe operation rests with the remote pilot in command, and it cannot be delegated away to the observer, the owner or the manufacturer. Propellers matter disproportionately because they turn at high speed: a nick or crack concentrates stress, and a blade that fails in flight causes immediate loss of control, so damaged blades are replaced rather than filed or trimmed.

    Source: AC 107-2A Ch. 7 and App. A (preflight inspection items); ACS codes UA.V.F.K1, UA.V.F.K2Report a problem with this question

20. 20. The manufacturer of your small unmanned aircraft publishes no scheduled maintenance program. What is the recommended practice?

    • A.Wait until an inspection is ordered before performing any maintenance
    • B.Establish your own scheduled maintenance protocol and keep records of repairs, replacements and time in service so intervals can be based on the aircraft's actual history✓ Answer
    • C.Have all maintenance performed by a certificated aircraft mechanic, which removes the need for any schedule
    • D.No maintenance schedule is needed; simply repair components after they fail

    When the manufacturer provides maintenance instructions they should be followed; when it provides none, the operator should establish a scheduled maintenance protocol of its own. That is only possible if repairs, overhauls, replacements and time in service are documented for the aircraft, control station, launch and recovery equipment and payload, because accumulated history is what tells you when a component is approaching the end of its useful life instead of waiting for it to fail in flight.

    Source: AC 107-2A Ch. 7 (scheduled/unscheduled maintenance and recordkeeping); ACS codes UA.V.F.K3, UA.V.F.K4Report a problem with this question

21. 21. You arrive at an unfamiliar location to fly. What is the purpose of a site survey and the briefing that follows it?

    • A.To measure the exact distance to the nearest airport, which is the only hazard that changes from site to site
    • B.To show the client that the crew is thorough, since the useful information all comes from charts anyway
    • C.To confirm the camera settings and framing the client wants before the crew sets up
    • D.To identify obstacles, launch and recovery points and emergency landing areas, to determine where non-participants and moving vehicles will be, and to brief participants on their roles and emergency actions while keeping bystanders clear of the operating area✓ Answer

    A survey exists to convert unknowns into a plan: charts cannot show you today's parked crane, a delivery route through the lot, or where a crowd will gather at lunchtime. Locating people, vehicles and sensitive infrastructure in advance is what lets the pilot lay out flight paths that never take the aircraft over a non-participant or a moving vehicle, and briefing everyone present — crew on their roles, bystanders on staying clear — means an evolving hazard is called out early instead of discovered late.

    Source: AC 107-2A para. 5.3 and Ch. 7 (preflight assessment of the operating environment and crew briefing); ACS codes UA.V.D.K5, UA.V.C.K1Report a problem with this question

Practice questions based on 14 CFR Part 107 and the FAA Airman Certification Standards for the Remote Pilot — Small UAS Rating. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Regulations are amended over time and airspace authorization procedures change; confirm the current rules with the FAA and check NOTAMs and TFRs before every flight. About the Part 107 certificate →