212man
Would it be too radical a suggestion that they use their checklist?
No of course not. But...
As Geoff quite rightly points out sometimes things do get forgotten normally, when attention is focused elsewhere for what ever reason.
We are mostly human beings and humans make mistakes. Hand on heart have you never had a Phewwww moment? So please forgive my sarcasm over the landing gear argument.
In the UK the floats are both finals and after take off check list items. The company has chosen to supersede the OEM's normal procedure with its own. And, of course the crews use the checklist.
This defeats the OEMs objective of eliminating the 'human' factor should the floats be needed. But of course there is the perceived downside to their procedure.
I have just had a quick look through the material I was given when I did the type rating. Not a word about the floats. Other options like the WX Radars and heater yes, but not floats. So here, maybe lies the problem. I guess I have not been fully educated as to the finer points of the system, so don’t really trust it not to deploy at 155kts (this is in the context of being forbidden to arm the floats above Vy ish speeds on both AS332 and S76).
I guess if I had been on the factory course this would not be the case.
At the moment, as is clear, I'm with those that chose to supercede the SOP and I will use the checklist, as always.
But, I'm open to persuasion.
ATB
Red