2 ms·
When I fly and go through the checklists, I call out the setting and touch the pertinent item ("Fuel Selector - BOTH"), and sometimes even flip it to the other
by FabHK 7y ago
When I fly and go through the checklists, I call out the setting and touch the pertinent item ("Fuel Selector - BOTH"), and sometimes even flip it to the other position and back ("Alternate Static Air - [move to on, then back to] OFF").
Benefits:
* makes it more likely that I actually check, rather than just see what I expect to be the case
* co-pilot (or passengers!) can follow and verify what I'm doing
* for rarely used items (such as the alternate static air) it makes sure that I know where it is and don't have to fumble for it,
* I check how it "feels", so I could detect if something feels off (for example, throttle cables have occasionally broken loose from the control knob).
Several aircraft have come down just because crews "followed" the checklist, but didn't actually check.
* "After the aircraft was returned into service, the flight crew overlooked the pressurisation system state on three separate occasions: during the pre-flight procedure, the after-start check, and the after take-off check. During these checks, no one in the flight crew noticed the incorrect setting."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522
* "The flight engineer was found to have failed to open the slat system bleed air valves as required on the pre-flight checklist."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_Flight_540 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_Flight_540
- sokoloff 7y agoI have “looked” and called out "airspeed alive" on a failed ASI before. (It clicked a moment later in time to abort, but if there were a CVR, the word “Alive” would have been on the tape.) Seeing what you expect from rote is a genuine problem.
- blktiger 7y agoPersonally I like to use a call-and-response style checklist and have passengers read through it for me when possible. They call out the item, I respond with the value, they confirm it against what the checklist says.
- duxup 7y agoThere are so many similar stories of not completing checklists in aviation. A plane was painted and they failed to remove tape placed over the pilot tube (followed by a series of more bad choices after the plane took off). In another case a military plane crashed after the flight engineer asked of they completed the landing checklist, they hadn't.