de La Valette
8th Aug 1999, 16:21
Having retired from flying big jets, I am now engaged and enjoying teaching ab-initio students. I am quite surprised at the blind use of checklists used by students for everything from start to shutdown. It is clear to me that they use checklists (most of which are lengthy, illogical, and very expensive in terms of engine running time) as a crutch to tell them what to do next. I even had one chap who did not know how to shut down an engine because he had left his checklist behind.
While there is a place for intelligently designed check lists, it appears that no in the flying training industry appears to teach students to use the well known "Scan first ", system of doing a series of drills by heart in a logical order, followed by then confirming the actions are completed by reference to a short read-out list. The scan may well cover many facets of cockpit duties that are not necessarily required to be printed on a check list. By insisting that a student carry out a panel scan for all drills BEFORE a look at the confirming checklist, it gets the student well ahead of the aircraft, rather than blind adherence to a lengthy read-out series of checks. It also gives the student great confidence in his ability to remember vital actions. It is also very useful in the long term if he or she gets an airline job, where cockpit scan system is the policy. Any thoughts?
While there is a place for intelligently designed check lists, it appears that no in the flying training industry appears to teach students to use the well known "Scan first ", system of doing a series of drills by heart in a logical order, followed by then confirming the actions are completed by reference to a short read-out list. The scan may well cover many facets of cockpit duties that are not necessarily required to be printed on a check list. By insisting that a student carry out a panel scan for all drills BEFORE a look at the confirming checklist, it gets the student well ahead of the aircraft, rather than blind adherence to a lengthy read-out series of checks. It also gives the student great confidence in his ability to remember vital actions. It is also very useful in the long term if he or she gets an airline job, where cockpit scan system is the policy. Any thoughts?