PLT331: Physiological Factors
What code PLT331 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Physiological Factors before your checkride.
Recall physiological factors - effects of scuba diving / smoking
What this means for your checkride
Two personal factors raise altitude risk. Scuba diving before flying leaves dissolved nitrogen in the body that can come out as bubbles and cause decompression sickness even at cabin altitude, so a waiting period is required. Smoking loads the blood with carbon monoxide, which lowers its oxygen capacity and effectively raises your physiological altitude before you leave the ground.
Both quietly reduce your tolerance to altitude, so the FAA tests the required wait after diving and how smoking degrades oxygen carriage.
Pilots think a short surface interval after diving is enough. Depending on the dive, you may need to wait many hours before flying even in a pressurized cabin, because the nitrogen releases slowly regardless of how well you feel.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.