Why set them in advance
Decisions made on the ramp, with passengers waiting, tend to drift. Writing your limits down on a calm day, then comparing the forecast with them, turns a judgment call into a check against an earlier, unpressured decision.
The PAVE checklist
- P — Pilot: experience, recency, training in the expected conditions, and fitness (IMSAFE: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, Emotion/Eating).
- A — Aircraft: equipment, inoperative items, performance at today's weight and density altitude, fuel.
- V — enVironment: weather, terrain, airports, airspace, day or night.
- E — External pressures: schedules, passengers, the wish to get home.
Choosing numbers
Start with the conditions you have actually flown recently and comfortably: lowest ceiling, lowest visibility, strongest crosswind. Add a buffer for unfamiliar airports, night, or when you are out of practice. Many pilots tighten their limits when several risk factors stack up, such as a new aircraft with a gusty crosswind at dusk.
Keeping them
- Decide your alternate and your no-go triggers before departure.
- Change your limits only on the ground, after training, never on the day.
- Tell passengers in advance that a delay or cancellation is a normal outcome.
How SIGMET.si uses them
The crosswind, ceiling and visibility you enter are compared with the selected runway's wind and the destination TAF at your modeled arrival time. Any deviation is shown with its numbers and source. The tool never issues a go or no-go decision; see the methodology.
Sources
- FAA-H-8083-2, Risk Management Handbook (PAVE, IMSAFE)
- FAA Personal Minimums Checklist (FAA Safety Team)
- FAA-H-8083-25, Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Chapter 2 (Aeronautical Decision-Making)
Educational summary reviewed 8 Oct 2026. Always use the current official editions and an official briefing; the Pilot in Command retains final authority under 14 CFR § 91.3. More guides in Insights.