If had been given a penny for all the times I had heard the use of checklists debated then I might be a rich man.
However, I am firmly in favour of checklists and agree wholeheartedly with Hugmonster et al.
Another factor in favour is that it is much easier to achieve a better degree of standardisation when checklists are used, otherwise you get the "well so-and-so told me to do it this way" syndrome where, as an instructor, you can end up using precious time discussing trivia.
All this assumes that the use of checklists is taught correctly.
Having seen the civil and the military way of "doing it" I have to say that, in my opinion, the RAF are living in the past by sticking to the memory way of doing things in their ab initio training.
Obviously, emergency checks and "airborne" checks etc need to be memorised but, as has been stated previously, the checklist can then be referred to in order to ensure that all actions have been carried out correctly.
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