A remote pilot with two years of incident-free flying skips the written preflight checklist on a familiar site, reasoning that they know the aircraft and the location well. This behavior is an example of which hazardous attitude?

Why →Complacency develops when repetition without incident leads a pilot to underestimate risk. A clean record on familiar sites feels like evidence that the checklist is unnecessary, when it is evidence that prior flights went well, not that future flights are safe. The FAA identifies complacency as a significant human factors threat because it erodes the habits that prevent accidents. The antidote is to treat every flight as if it were the first time.

The trap →The impulsivity option describes a different hazardous attitude. Impulsivity is acting without thinking in response to a perceived problem. Skipping a checklist on a familiar site is deliberate, not impulsive. The macho option describes macho, which involves proving capability or superiority. The pilot here is motivated by familiarity, not ego.

Field note →Complacency is sometimes called the sixth hazardous attitude even though the FAA's formal list has five. It blends with invulnerability but differs in cause: invulnerability is 'it won't happen to me,' complacency is 'I know this so well that I don't need the process.' Both are dangerous.