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The Preflight Go/No-Go Decision

Updated July 2026 · by Jeff, pilot and builder of Zeekin Around

A go/no-go decision is not one moment at the end of the preflight; it is a chain of checks, and a red flag at any link ends the flight. Nothing later in the chain makes up for something earlier: a perfect walkaround does not fix an expired flight review, and good weather does not fix an outstanding airworthiness directive. Here is the whole sequence, in the order it fires.

Preflight go/no-go decision flow (14 CFR 91.103)Preflight go/no-go decision flow. Eleven steps in order, from deciding to fly to the final go/no-go call. 1. Decide to fly. 2. Pilot legal to fly: medical, flight review, currency (61.23, 61.56, 61.57). 3. Pilot fit to fly, IMSAFE: illness, medication, stress, alcohol, fatigue, emotion or eating. 4. Aircraft airworthy, AV1ATES: annual, VOR check, 100-hour, altimeter and pitot-static, transponder, ELT, service bulletins and airworthiness directives complied with. 5. Documents aboard, ARROW: airworthiness certificate, registration, radio station license for international flights only, operating limitations, weight and balance. 6. Weather and NOTAMs, the N-W-K of NWKRAFT: NOTAMs, weather, known ATC delays (91.103). 7. Route and performance, the R-A-F-T of NWKRAFT: runway lengths, alternates, fuel requirements, takeoff and landing distances. 8. Assess risk, PAVE: pilot, aircraft, enVironment, external pressures. 9. Preflight inspection: walkaround, fuel, oil, controls. 10. Load and brief passengers: seatbelts, doors, sterile cockpit. 11. Final go/no-go: a red flag at any step means the flight does not go.Decide to flyPilot legal to flyMedical · flight review · currency (61.23, 61.56, 61.57)Pilot fit to fly: IMSAFEIllness · Medication · Stress · Alcohol · Fatigue · Emotion/EatingAircraft airworthy: AV1ATESAnnual · VOR · 100-hour · Altimeter · Transponder · ELTService bulletins & ADs complied withDocs aboard: ARROWAirworthiness · Registration · Radio (international only)Operating limitations · Weight & balanceWeather & NOTAMs: NWKRAFT (N·W·K)NOTAMs · Weather · Known ATC delays (91.103)Route & performance: NWKRAFT (R·A·F·T)Runway lengths · Alternates · Fuel · Takeoff/landing distancesAssess risk: PAVEPilot · Aircraft · enVironment · External pressuresPreflight inspectionWalkaround · fuel · oil · controlsLoad & brief passengersSeatbelts · doors · sterile cockpitFinal go / no-goAny red flag at any step = don't fly
Reading it: the chain runs pilot → aircraft → planning → risk → walkaround → passengers. A red flag at any box stops the flight; there is no step that a later step makes up for.NWKRAFT is one mnemonic (91.103), split here because weather and NOTAMs drive whether the route is worth planning at all.

Is the pilot legal to fly?

Three separate clocks, and they expire independently. You need a current medical: a third-class medical is valid 60 calendar months if you were under 40 at the exam, 24 months if you were 40 or older, or you fly under BasicMed instead (61.23, 68.3). You need a flight review within the preceding 24 calendar months (61.56). And to carry passengers you need three takeoffs and landings in the preceding 90 days in the same category and class, with the landings to a full stop at night (61.57). Currency is the legal floor; proficiency is the real question, and only one of the two is written down.

Is the pilot fit to fly today?

IMSAFE: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, Emotion/Eating. This is the check that legality cannot catch: every clock above can be current on a day you have had four hours of sleep. Alcohol carries its own rule of 8 hours bottle-to-throttle, under 0.04 BAC, and no residual impairment (91.17). Fatigue is the item pilots most often argue themselves past, because the impairment and the judgment used to assess it degrade together.

Is the aircraft airworthy?

Airworthy means two things at once: the aircraft conforms to its type certificate, and it is in condition for safe operation. Determining that is the pilot in command's responsibility, not the mechanic's (91.7). AV1ATES covers the inspections and records: Annual (91.409a), VOR check every 30 days for IFR (91.171), 100-hour if operated for hire or for flight instruction for hire (91.409b), Altimeter and pitot-static every 24 calendar months for IFR (91.411), Transponder every 24 calendar months (91.413), ELT battery and inspection (91.207), and Service bulletins and ADs complied with. An outstanding airworthiness directive grounds the aircraft no matter how well it flies. Anything inoperative gets handled under 91.213(d) before the flight, not after.

Are the required documents aboard?

ARROW: Airworthiness certificate and Registration, both required aboard (91.203); Radio station license, which is an FCC requirement for international flights only; Operating limitations, meaning the POH/AFM, placards and markings (91.9); and Weight and balance data. This is a two-minute check that turns an otherwise legal flight illegal when it is skipped.

What does 91.103 require you to know before takeoff?

The regulation itself is broad (become familiar with all available information concerning the flight) and then names specifics for anything beyond the vicinity of the airport. NWKRAFT is the usual hook: NOTAMs, Weather reports and forecasts, Known ATC delays, Runway lengths, Alternates, Fuel requirements, and Takeoff and landing distances (91.103). It is worth splitting in practice: NOTAMs, weather and delays decide whether the flight is worth planning at all, and runway, alternates, fuel and performance decide whether the plan closes. Fuel has its own minimum, 30 minutes reserve by day VFR, 45 at night (91.151). That is a legal floor, not a plan.

How do you assess the risk?

PAVE sorts the hazards into Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, and External pressures (PHAK ch 2). The value is in the last one: external pressure is the only category that has no instrument, no logbook entry, and no inspection interval. Personal minimums are the countermeasure, and they only work if they were written down before the pressure existed; a limit set on the ramp with passengers waiting is not a limit.

What is left after the walkaround?

The preflight inspection runs off the POH checklist rather than memory, because the classically missed items (fuel caps, tow bar, pitot cover, baggage door) are the ones a flow loses when it gets interrupted. Then the passengers: seatbelt and shoulder harness notification is required (91.107), along with doors, exits, no smoking, and what a sterile cockpit means during takeoff and landing. The briefing is also where a passenger learns that saying "I don't feel right about this" is welcome rather than rude.

What if only one item is marginal?

Then the answer is no-go, and the reason marginal items are dangerous is that they rarely arrive alone. Accident chains are built from several individually survivable decisions (a little fatigue, a little weather, a little schedule pressure), none of which would have stopped the flight by itself. The chain in the graphic has no weighting and no scoring for exactly that reason: the question at every box is pass or fail, and the last box only confirms what the earlier ones already decided.

How do you make this stick?

The mnemonics are only useful cold, which makes them a retention problem rather than a reading problem. Every acronym above is on the quick reference page, and the same material runs as flashcards scheduled by FSRS so it comes back right before you would forget it. 15 new-or-due cards a day are free, and Premium removes the cap. The reasoning behind the scheduling is in spaced repetition for pilots.

Sources: 14 CFR 61.23, 61.56, 61.57, 68.3, 91.7, 91.9, 91.17, 91.103, 91.107, 91.151, 91.171, 91.203, 91.207, 91.213, 91.409, 91.411, 91.413 · PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25) ch 2 · Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2). Regulation citations verified July 2026; confirm against the current CFR and your own POH/AFM before every flight.