Hi!
1- Checklists ARE needed. The US Air Force didn't have any, until they had their best crew test flying a B-29, and it crashed, because they omitted one or more important items....at first someone said they just needed better pilots, but then someone else pointed out that the Captain WAS their best pilots, so they created checklists.
2. Many companies (like Delta), are moving to used the manufacturer's checklist exactly, as it removes the company's liability if they had instead used the company checklists...so, that is good as it lends itself to smaller checklists and more standardization.
3. My previous airline had relatively small checklists and lots of items in the SOPs/Flows. It worked quite well.
However, my current job is in Africa: NONE of our pilots have had any training from our company. I think that more detailed checklists are good in this case, as we all have different SOPs/Flows, and it is very easy to miss something or assume the other guy did it. So far, each Captain has been flying with their own checklist, which is not optimal for the FOs.
We have a Chief Pilot now (didn't for about a year), and he is introducing a standardized checklist, and some standardized SOPs. The checklist is longer than I am used to, but I think that is a good thing in our situation. The captains are complaining about having to standardize, because each one thinks that their way is the best way, more or less, which is normal, from what I have experienced.
4. I have done walk arounds with a checklist in hand, until I felt comfortable with the items I needed to check....Just saw 747-400 walk-around checklist and it is only 5 items...VERY NICE!
5. While in UPT (USAF) I would do a walk-around and use my checklists as required. The instructors pressured me to not do a walk-around and use no checklists. I asked them if they felt safe without inspecting the plane, and they said they did, as they had an ejection seat. That way of thinking is one of the reasons I wanted to be in a multi-crew, non-fighter aircraft.
6. My dad flew a Piper 235 for thousands of hours, mostly single pilot. He ALWAYS used his checklist: Did everything in a flow, and then checked each item off of the checklist, even when single pilot. It worked very well for him.
7. "Bold Face", Emergency Action Items: Those on the checklists that are required to be done from memory before pulling out the checklists:
The J-41 I was trained on had something like 27 of these checklists (with Memory Items in them).
The Falcon 20 had around 17 or so.
The DC-9 about 12.
The KC-135R had 5.
The American Airlines MD-80 had 2 or 3, I believe.
cliff
LFW
PS-In the plane I am currently flying, before we land, and after the checklists are complete, regardless of whether I am PF or PM, I re-check that the gear is 3 green-no red, and the flaps are 40.
Last edited by atpcliff; 16th Jul 2010 at 14:26.