Good situational awareness is essential for safe aviation operations. But there’s more to consider.
The harder we focus on one task, the easier it becomes to miss something else that matters.
As the aviation industry transitions to the new flight operations regulations, air transport operators are expected to formally embed human factors principles and non-technical skills (HFNTS) into their training and assessment procedures and safety systems. One of the most important of these is understanding the limits of attention – and how it affects situational awareness.
The hidden risk of selective attention
Pilots regularly carry out work that demands close attention. Checks, calculations, system monitoring and troubleshooting all require concentration. That focus is essential, but it can also narrow our awareness.
Mel Weeks, Senior CASA Inspector (Flight Operations) says, ‘Strong focus helps complete tasks, however, it can also reduce detection of environmental changes and impair recognition of critical information.’
When attention becomes too tightly fixed, hazards in plain sight can be missed. That might include:
- conflicting traffic
- a configuration error
- an abnormal indication
- a ground obstacle.
‘A hazard may be present but not perceived, because attention is fully focused elsewhere,’ says Mel.
A normal human limitation
This is not a sign of poor skill or weak discipline. It’s a normal human limitation.
Human factors are part of every operation. Safe systems recognise this and are designed to manage human limitations, rather than assuming people will notice everything all the time.
Understanding attention limits is a core element of HFNTS, which air transport operators must now demonstrate within their training and safety systems under the flight operations regulations transition.
Watch CASA’s video concentration test ‘Balls up in the hangar’.
It makes the point clearly. When people are asked to count ball passes, many fail to notice an obvious unexpected event happening in front of them.
The lesson for aviation is simple: focused attention can help us complete a task, but it can also leave gaps in our awareness.
Managing the risk
Mel also says that ‘the goal is recognising the limitations and managing them through consistent strategies’. These include:
- Use structured scanning:
- regularly shift your focus during tasks
- apply systematic scan patterns rather than fixating on a single instrument or activity.
- Share the workload:
- use crew resource management (CRM) principles
- encourage active monitoring and crosschecking.
- Build deliberate pauses:
- during high workload periods, pause to reassess the broader situation
- ask: ‘What am I not seeing?’
- Expect the unexpected:
- maintain a mindset that something could be missed
- avoid overconfidence when tasks seem routine.
What this means for operators
Under the new flight operations regulations, human performance management is built into the system, improving safety outcomes and efficiency. Air transport operators are required to develop and submit their HFNTS program by the 1 September 2026 deadline.
Operators should ensure that:
- loss of situational awareness and attention tunnelling are identified as hazards within their safety management system
- procedures include practical defences such as structured scanning and cross-checking
- training and checking systems address HFNTS skills, including attention management
- occurrences and near misses are reviewed for human factors contributors, including reduced awareness.
Embedding these controls helps ensure that human limitations are anticipated and managed, rather than becoming a source of risk.
The bottom line
Attention is a limited resource – when we focus hard on one task, other risks can become invisible.
Recognising this and building habits to counter it is essential to maintaining situational awareness and improving safety outcomes.
The lesson is simple: in aviation, what you don’t see can put you at risk.
Further information
To learn more about human factors:
- download our Safety behaviours: human factor for pilots resource kit or purchase it from our online store
- visit our human factors webpage
- learn more about the flight operations rules transition requirements.
