A pitot-static system failure primarily affects which flight data?

A pitot-static system failure primarily affects which flight data?

• A. Airspeed and altitude.
• B. Attitude and heading.
• C. Vertical speed only.
• D. Navigation radios.

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that the pitot-static system provides the aircraft’s essential air data: dynamic pressure for airspeed through the pitot tube and ambient static pressure for altitude and vertical speed through the static ports. When this system fails, those data become unreliable, so the instruments relying on them lose accuracy. Airspeed is derived from the difference between pitot (dynamic) pressure and static pressure, so a pitot-static failure directly compromises the airspeed indication. Altitude comes from the static pressure sensed by the altimeter, so altitude data also become unreliable. Vertical speed depends on how quickly the static pressure is changing, so it too can be affected, but the primary concerns are airspeed and altitude because they are the most fundamental and widely used flight data derived from the pitot-static system. Attitude and heading come from other systems (gyros and magnetics) and navigation radios rely on different signals, so they’re not primarily impacted by a pitot-static failure.

The key idea is that the pitot-static system provides the aircraft’s essential air data: dynamic pressure for airspeed through the pitot tube and ambient static pressure for altitude and vertical speed through the static ports. When this system fails, those data become unreliable, so the instruments relying on them lose accuracy.

Airspeed is derived from the difference between pitot (dynamic) pressure and static pressure, so a pitot-static failure directly compromises the airspeed indication. Altitude comes from the static pressure sensed by the altimeter, so altitude data also become unreliable. Vertical speed depends on how quickly the static pressure is changing, so it too can be affected, but the primary concerns are airspeed and altitude because they are the most fundamental and widely used flight data derived from the pitot-static system.

Attitude and heading come from other systems (gyros and magnetics) and navigation radios rely on different signals, so they’re not primarily impacted by a pitot-static failure.