Situation awareness (SA) and flight performance may be intrinsically connected. Good SA can lead to good aeronautical decision making, and consequently better flight performance. Forty-three pilots participated in the study. Participants completed personality tests, a test of fluid intelligence, and a test for working memory. Participants flew a 15-minute flight scenario in an Elite PI-135 BATD, where participants received six SA questions. Airspeed, altitude, and heading were the flight performance variables. Participants also completed a version of Letter Factory (LF), a generic test used as part of the air traffic controller selection test. Good SA for LF, openness, agreeableness, and fluid intelligence predicted SA in flight. Better SA led to fewer airspeed deviations from the target airspeed, and fewer heading deviations from the target airspeed. Higher fluid intelligence indicated less altitude deviation from the target altitude. Knowing these predictors of SA can be helpful for pilot training and selection tests.