Orasanu (1994) presents a model of aviation decision making that emphasizes the role of situation assessment: Deciding on a course of action is contingent upon an adequate understanding of the nature of the problem and of the response options

How do expert pilots interpret flight-related problem situations and what aspects do they find important for making decisions? These questions are not as easy to answer as they at first might appear. Aviation decision situations are often complex and a number of factors may influence decision making. Candidate variables are to name just a few phase of flight, aircraft type, problem type, available time and resources, or risk involved. Orasanu (1994) presents a model of aviation decision making that emphasizes the role of situation assessment: Deciding on a course of action is contingent upon an adequate understanding of the nature of the problem and of the response options afforded by the problem situation. Risk and time pressure are situational variables that further constrain the decision process. One goal of our present work was to validate this process model from the pilot's perspective.