My former company bought a couple of Boeing 737-200's in the early 1970's. Crews were sent to Boeing for type rating training. A Boeing test pilot then returned with the first crew to aid their introduction into service. He wrote the first FCTM as it turned out.
The chief pilot of the day decided to add a few more items into the original Boeing produced checklist. He thought this was a good idea from other types he had flown. These included several items he felt needed to be tested for serviceability. One example was turning off the anti-skid selector to ensure the caution light came on. The globes had already been checked via the three-way Lights Test switch.
After a few trips the Boeing test pilot told the chief pilot that by adding more items in the pre-start set up he had invalidated the principle of a two pilot cockpit. Any more than a researched number of items and that included switch selections and eye movements, then a flight engineer was needed like the 727. That is why the 737 had more automated items (auto-pressurisation for example) than the 727 in its design to minimise pilot operated switch selections. In addition, Boeing had designed a certain scan flow and that had been invalidated by the extra items the CP had decided would be a good thing.
It is a pity the days of the silent cockpit have gone and replaced with the perception of the more talking the safer it is. Boeing used the term "verify" which means what it says. Now "verify" is used to verbalise rather than look or observe without talking, in some aircraft types (not necessarily Boeing). The result is often a significant increase in superfluous chatter on the flight deck; much of it stating the obvious. Much of it also, for arse covering via the CVR
Last edited by Centaurus; 28th Jun 2015 at 01:28.