of the environmental conditions of the flight, such as spatial orientation of the helicopter, and its relation- ship to terrain, traffic, weather, and airspace must be maintained. navigate, and communicate.” This means that the first thing you should do is make sure the helicopter is under To maintain situational awareness, all of the skills involved in aeronautical decision making are used. For example, an accurate perception of your fitness can be achieved through self-assessment and recognition of hazardous attitudes. A clear assessment of the status of navigation equipment can be obtained through work- load management, and establishing a productive  relationship with ATC can be accomplished by effec- tive resource use. Fatigue, stress, and work overload can cause you to fix- ate on a single perceived important item rather than maintaining an overall awareness of the flight situa- tion. A contributing factor in many accidents is a  distraction that diverts the pilot’s attention from moni- toring the instruments or scanning outside the  aircraft. Many cockpit distractions begin as a minor problem, such as a gauge that is not reading correctly, but result in accidents as the pilot diverts attention to the perceived problem and neglects to properly control the aircraft. Complacency presents another obstacle to maintaining situational awareness. When activities become routine, you may have a tendency to relax and not put as much effort into performance. Like fatigue, complacency reduces your effectiveness in the cockpit. However, complacency is harder to recognize than fatigue, since everything is perceived to be progressing smoothly. For example, you have just dropped off another group of fire fighters for the fifth time that day. Without think- ing, you hastily lift the helicopter off the ground, not realizing that one of the skids is stuck between two rocks. The result is dynamic rollover and a destroyed helicopter.  There are a number of classic behavioral traps into which pilots have been known to fall. Pilots, particu- larly those with considerable experience, as a rule, always try to complete a flight as planned, please pas- sengers, and meet schedules. The basic drive to meet or exceed goals can have an adverse effect on safety, and can impose an unrealistic assessment of piloting skills under stressful conditions. These tendencies ulti- mately may bring about practices that are dangerous and often illegal, and may lead to a mishap. You will develop awareness and learn to avoid many of these operational pitfalls through effective ADM training. [Figure 14-10] Situational awareness is the accurate perception of the operational and environmental factors that affect the aircraft, pilot, and passengers during a specific period of time. Maintaining situational awareness requires an understanding of the relative significance of these factors and their future impact on the flight. When sit- uationally aware, you have an overview of the total operation and are not fixated on one perceived signif- icant factor. Some of the elements inside the aircraft to be considered are the status of aircraft systems, you as the pilot, and passengers. In addition, an awareness 14-8 When becoming overloaded, you should stop, think, slow down, and prioritize. It is important that you understand options that may be available to decrease workload. For example, tasks, such as locating an item on a chart or setting a radio frequency, may be dele- gated to another pilot or passenger, an autopilot, if available, may be used, or ATC may be enlisted to  provide assistance. Another important part of managing workload is rec- ognizing a work overload situation. The first effect of high workload is that you begin to work faster. As workload increases, attention cannot be devoted to sev- eral tasks at one time, and you may begin to focus on one item. When you become task saturated, there is no awareness of inputs from various sources, so decisions may be made on incomplete information, and the pos- sibility of error increases. [Figure 14-9] control. Then begin flying to an acceptable landing area. Only after the first two items are assured, should you try to communicate with anyone. Figure 14-9. Accidents often occur when flying task require- ments exceed pilot capabilities. The difference between these two factors is called the margin of safety. Note that in this idealized example, the margin of safety is minimal during the approach and landing. At this point, an emergency or dis- traction could overtax pilot capabilities, causing an accident. OBSTACLES TO MAINTAINING SITUATIONAL AWARENESS OPERATIONAL PITFALLS SITUATIONAL AWARENESS Margin GLYPH<.notdef> of Safety Pilot Capabilities Task GLYPH<.notdef> Requirements Preflight TakeoffGLYPH<.notdef> GLYPH<.notdef> CruiseGLYPH<.notdef> Approach &  Landing TaxiGLYPH<.notdef> T Time