Originally Posted by
worldpilot
Avoid being complacent - Use checklists
A pilot parked an aircraft (a Cessna 172) at my home airport without enforcing a simple policy which is appropriately securing the aircraft wheels with required chocks and came back to find out that the aircraft became totaled and the only way to get back home was by a rental car (more than 5 hours of driving). The aircraft rolled back and hit a wall resulting in the destruction of the aircraft empennage structure.
Another pilot (a Cirrus pilot) learned a hard lesson when he forgot to remove the towbar before engine start and the resulting prop-strike was disastrous. Thousands of Euros lost due to complacency.
Both scenarios were clearly avoidable by following the checklist.
WP
What I see here is a confusion between use of SOP's and use of checklists. I teach that just before the student turns the key he/she calls out "clear, towbar out". What will occasionally happen is he will make the call and then say "wait I am not absolutely sure the tow bar is out". " Go look" is what I will tell them.
I have had a student come back to me several years later and say the habit of that stopped him from starting the engine with the tow bar still on. How that came to pass was the classic change of plan with the towbar removed and then just before getting in, a hangar door opened behind the airplane necessitating moving it followed by being distracted by questions from the passenger.
My point is that building those good habitual SOP's provides the required safety net without writing down everything. The same goes for chocking the airplane. From day one my student learns that you never walk away from the airplane without at lest one chock on the pilot side wheel.