What is the primary action a pilot should take to recover from a stall?

The primary action a pilot should take to recover from a stall is to lower the nose to regain airspeed. This is crucial because a stall occurs when the angle of attack exceeds the critical angle, causing airflow to separate from the wings and lift to decrease significantly. By lowering the nose, the pilot decreases the angle of attack, allowing the wings to regain effective airflow. This action also enables the aircraft to accelerate back to a speed above the stall speed, restoring lift and enabling a recovery back into normal flight.

Maintaining control during a stall recovery is critical, and simply increasing throttle without addressing the nose position will not effectively resolve the flight situation. Although raising altitude or banking steeply may seem like viable options, they can exacerbate the stall condition or lead to further loss of control. Therefore, the most effective and immediate response when recovering from a stall is to lower the nose, allowing the aircraft to regain necessary speed and lift.