AA.VI.E.K3
E
What does AA.VI.E.K3 mean?
Ground-based and satellite-based navigation (orientation, course determination, equipment, tests and regulations, interference, appropriate use of navigation data, signal integrity)..
- Area of Operation
- VI
- Task
- E
- Element type
- A Knowledge element — a fact, concept, or procedure the FAA expects you to know and that the knowledge (written) test draws questions from.
What you need to know
This task blends navigation systems knowledge with the discipline of flying a stabilized approach. You need to understand how RNAV/GPS, VOR, ILS, and FMS displays annunciate their current mode (e.g., armed vs. captured, terminal vs. approach sensitivity) and what those annunciations tell you about signal integrity, RAIM/integrity monitoring, and when you must revert to a backup means of navigation. Know the practical differences between ground-based and satellite-based nav in terms of signal reception, interference (multipath, jamming, terrain shadowing), required equipment checks, and the regulatory limits on relying on GPS versus conventional navaids. For the stabilized approach piece, focus on energy management—configuring the aircraft early, staying on the correct vertical and lateral path, and maintaining target airspeed and descent rate so that power, pitch, and configuration are all settled well before the point where a stabilized approach is required, since deviations from any of these are the trigger for a go-around.
Why students miss this
Students often treat FMS/GPS navigation guidance as automatically trustworthy without cross-checking annunciations, mode transitions, or signal integrity/RAIM-type alerts, so they miss cues that the system has degraded or reverted to a lower level of guidance. On the stabilized approach piece, the common trap is thinking of 'stabilized' as purely an airspeed/configuration checklist rather than an ongoing energy management process that ties directly into how navigation mode and guidance quality affect vertical and lateral path control.
Focus on: Learn to actively monitor and verbally confirm navigation mode annunciations and sensor status throughout an approach, and connect any mode change or degradation directly to your energy and stabilization criteria rather than treating them as separate topics.
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Question 1 of 2Missed approach routing in which the first track is via a course rather than direct to the next waypoint requires
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Drill this area until it sticks
AA.VI.E.K3 came from a question you missed on the FAA Airline Transport Pilot Multiengine Airplane knowledge test. Take a free, ACS-aligned Equipment, Navigation, and Facilities quiz — instant scoring, explanations, and the cited FAA reference behind every answer.
Missing it isn't a verdict on you — it's a sign your prep skipped the why behind it. Memorizing answer letters is exactly what leaves gaps like this. Here, every answer explains the reasoning and cites the FAA source it comes from, so the concept holds on test day and at the checkride oral.
Study this concept
Plain-English explanations of the key ideas behind AA.VI.E.K3, grounded in the FAA handbooks.
Related ACS codes in E
Other elements the FAA tests under this same Task — review them together.
Common question
What's the difference between a navigation mode annunciation and a navigation source annunciation?
The mode annunciation tells you how the automation is using the guidance (e.g., lateral or vertical navigation tracking), while the source annunciation tells you which underlying system—ground-based or satellite-based—is providing that guidance; both must be verified because either can change independently during an approach.
What is an FAA ACS code?
The FAA's Airman Certification Standards (ACS) break each certificate into Areas of Operation, Tasks, and specific Knowledge (K), Risk Management (R), and Skill (S) elements. Every knowledge-test question maps to one code like AA.VI.E.K3. When you miss a question, your Airman Knowledge Test Report lists its code so you know exactly what to review.
Have a whole list of codes from your report? Paste them all into our free ACS code lookup to see every weak area at once — or browse the aviation glossary for plain-English definitions.