Hi all,

Something Ive been quite confused about for a while now...

What is the difference between External threats and Environmental threats? And the difference between Internal and Organisational threats? I noticed some books only have usually one or the other.

A quick response will be appreciated as my cpl exam is soon

G'day,

There is a lot of overlap in the definition of an external threat and an environmental threat. External threats does seem to be the more usual term but CAAP 5-59 mentions the word "environmental" and gives specific examples and if they turned up in the exam I'd think CASA would call those examples environmental threats. Here's what can be extracted from the CAAP and other sources.

EXTERNAL THREATS: adverse weather; weight and balance; density altitude; runway length; other traffic; high terrain or obstacles; or the condition of the aircraft.

ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS: Weather (turbulence, ice, wind); Aerodromes (congestion, complex surface navigation, poor signage/markings) ; ATC (non-standard phraseology, complex clearances, poor English language); and Terrain (mountains, valleys, built up areas)

As you can see there's a lot of overlap. Environmental threats seem to relate more directly to the immediate environment in which the aircraft operates whereas external threats is a more generalised. I just checked the CAAP again and they describe an environmental threat as:

"Environmental threats occur outside the control of the aircraft operator due to the environment in which the
operations take place and have to be managed by the pilot in the available time. " (emphasis is mine)

This has a sense of immediacy about it. Bad weather is an external threat but turbulence, icing, wind would be environmental threats while the pilot is dealing with them. An unfamiliar aerodrome is an external threat but a confusing collection of taxiway signs while you are taxiing at that aerodrome would qualify as an environmental threat.

Organisational and internal threats on the other hand are different.

Internal threats are threats the flight crew bring with them to the cockpit environment. I like to think of it as anything that is going on inside the pilot's skin either physiologically, psychologically or associated with their skill set. So, a hangover is an internal threat, lack of recency in an internal threat, depression is an internal threat.

An organisational threat on the other hand is a threat associated with the actions or inactions of the operator responsible for flight operations. The classic examples are in CAAP 5-59 and include things like issuing out of date charts to pilots, tight schedules for flight sectors etc. Organisational threats are often also latent meaning they are like an accident waiting to happen. Tight scheduling for example is an organisational threat (it has to do with how flight operations are organised) but it is also a latent threat since tight scheduling may one day lead to a pilot rushing a checklist and committing an error.

My recommendation is read CAAP 5-59 Sections 13 and 14 very thoroughly and make sure you have it with you in the exam (CAAP 5-59 is not part of the allowed materials in any CASA exam ). Once you understand the concepts and can apply them it might help to use a highlighter to mark the specific examples in those sections so you can spot them easily while revising. Specific examples from the CAAP are the ones that crop up often in the exam.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Rich

I'm confused about latent threats. In the text they are described as a type of external threat but in the flow chart on the following page they appear to be another type of threat alongside external and internal threats. So which are they?

Hi Richard
Is the CAAP allowed to be brought into the exam? My booking confirmation states no permitted materials. Obviously the CAAP would be useful. Should I take it in with me, perhaps checking with the examiner if ok? What has been the experience of others?

Nev

No, you will not be permitted to take the CAAP into the exam. But, as Richard has said, Sections 13 and 14 are the only relevant sections as far as the exam is concerned. If you make sure you have a handle on those sections it will be a great help.

Bob

A latent threat is the type of threat that doesn't become obvious until after the event. When you find yourself saying, "Of course, now I can see that could have been a problem!" Latent threats can be external, such as poorly written instructions in manuals - or the AIP for that matter - or they could be internal, such as a pilot's tendency to be an exhibitionist.

Hi Neville,

Yep, Bob's right, CAAP 5-59 is excluded - even from the PPL exam which is rather a shame. That sure would make TEM a lot easier to deal with in an exam situation. I've edited my original post accordingly. As we mentioned though, if you are familiar with the examples in CAAP 5-59 sections 13 and 14 you should not get too many surprises in the exam.

Cheers,

Rich

Thanks Bob - so a latent threat may be internal or external. I find it a bit of an odd one - the industry focuses so much on identifying these potential threats, how could anyone arrive at an isolated aerodrome at night without knowing about the 'black hole' illusion for example? This to me makes it an anticipated external environmental threat rather than a latent one (and possibly also an internal threat too, due to the perceptual and physiological limitations of the pilot's brain/eye), but for the purposes of passing the exam I can pretend I arrived fat dumb and happy with no idea about the 'black hole' until afterwards. I find these 'categorisation' questions particularly painful - at the end of the day who cares what box it fits best in, surely the aim is to identify the threat so effective countermeasures can be employed?

By the way, I note in the latest text (issue 7) there is an error in question 3 of the quiz on page 10.18. The answer provided is b) but I am sure it is supposed to be a).

Hi Ray,

First off, knowing what box to put a threat or an error into is not the important point to TEM unless you are actually performing a safety audit and need to put ticks in boxes - or you are doing the CASA exam . The important thing about TEM is how we approach airmanship and safety. It provides a model of thinking and analysis which helps pilots to look at what things could go wrong and how to make sure they don't or deal with the problems if they do occur.

The categorisation questions can be confusing since it seems easy to justify alternate interpretations of the threats and errors. However, CASA has laid down some firm examples in CAAP 5-59 and you should make sure you know them. For example, the black hole effect is a latent (external/environmental) threat since an optical illusion is specifically mentioned in CAAP 5-59 14.1.3 as being an example of a latent threat no matter what your thoughts may be on it. Yes, we had this discussion with CASA and believe it or not, the justification for some of the answers to the TEM questions we reviewed was "because it is in the CAAP"

In your alternate classification, make sure you don't confuse the actual threat (the "black hole" optical illusion) with other threats which would aggravate the problem. For example:

- the internal threat of poor pilot training which meant the pilot didn't know about black hole effect
- the external threat of a power blackout in the town under the extended approach path on a clear moonless night which all help enhance the illusion.

If you are expecting the black hole effect will you suffer from the optical illusion to the point where it impacted the safety of the flight? Probably not. You would likely take steps to avoid the effect e.g. closer monitoring of your VSI, airspeed and altitude during the approach (execution countermeasure), avoiding a long straight in approach etc. I'd be tempted to say the latent external threat has been mitigated due to your awareness of the problem.

Anyway, the examples they give are taken from the CAAP and those will be the ones you are most likely to see. Know those examples in sections 13 and 14 of CAAP 5-59 and you should be well prepared.

As for question 3 in that quiz, thanks for mentioning it. We did catch it already and it is in the errata for the textbook. You can find it (and others) here: www.bobtait.com.au/books/errata/106-huma...mitations-hpl-errata

Cheers,

Rich

Ray

Thanks for the feed-back on Page 10.18. That answer has been amended and will appear in the next print of the book.

Bob