UND Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) New Hire Training Practice Test

Fatigue erodes mental processing and vigilance, which directly impacts piloting performance. When tired, attention tends to drop, reaction times slow, and decision making becomes poorer because the brain isn’t processing cues and risks as efficiently. Microsleeps—brief, involuntary episodes of sleep—can occur, even if you don’t feel totally exhausted, and these moments can slip by unnoticed while you’re flying. Together, these signs reduce situational awareness and the ability to manage workload and respond to changes in the flight environment. The other descriptions don’t reflect fatigue's typical impact. Being more energetic with faster decisions and improved attention is the opposite of fatigue. Always yawning while remaining alert can be SAMPLEinconsistent with real fatigue effects, and heightened vigilance is not associated with fatigue but with being alert.