Originally Posted by
+TSRA
I would argue if they can’t remember how to say everything they need to do in an emergency when sitting on the ground in comfort, there is not a chance they’ll remember even half of it when the engine stops, the pulse is up, and the altitude is dropping.
What BPF describes is within the ballpark for the brief my company requires on a 737. We give it first flight of the day or on any change to one of the pilots, and when I was instructing I would tell my students that if they could talk through the briefing verbatim, then just think it through in their heads when they see it in the sim, and they’ll never have an issue.
I’ve been on again and off again on whether an emergency briefing is warranted at any level of aviation. After 25 years, one real-world V1 cut, and four other engine malfunctions on takeoff (one of which was in a light single), I’ve settled on it is a good thing. It puts the most unlikely, but high risk emergency front and centre of our minds for takeoff. We are immediately primed to stop a takeoff if needed, or primed to look for places to set down after we rotate. Plus, if the regulator wants to hear it during a flight exam, then it’s better for that to have been a part of patter from day one than a last minute addition. As an examiner, I felt I could tell how a ride would go just on the emergency briefing alone. A solid brief often resulted in a good ride. A weak brief often resulted in a weak ride. I figure if someone is willing to put the work in to make the brief sound good and professional , then they’re putting the work in elsewhere as well.
i agree we throw a lot at a student, and that this can seem like overkill. But the whole point of flight training is that we are teaching people how not to kill themselves. Ergo, an emergency briefing puts us in the right frame of mind before we ever get to the dangerous parts of flying.
It always amused me to watch some captains during the takeoff roll, put their hands over the top of the thrust levers in an unnatural claw-like grip as if to emphasis how ready they were to rip the thrust levers back to idle up to V1. There is no need for that nonsense. For example, a tyre burst 10-15 knots below V1 on a limiting length runway would run the chance of an over-run due to lack of maximum braking availability. V1 is not the sacred cow of all possible takeoff go/stop situations.