PLT548: Flight Risk Assessment Tools
What code PLT548 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Flight Risk Assessment Tools before your checkride.
Recall teaching risk management - FRATs
What this means for your checkride
A Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) helps a pilot differentiate in advance between a low risk and a high risk flight. Using a risk assessment matrix, the tool defines the probability and severity of an accident so risk can be scored and mitigated before flight. This makes risk management proactive rather than reactive.
Instructors teach the FRAT so pilots systematically identify and mitigate risk before departure, so its purpose and use are tested.
A FRAT is not a pass or fail gate; it is a tool to quantify risk so the pilot can apply mitigations or decide not to fly.
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.