Pre-flight checks before first flight

[Nicholas49]

These are questions for short-haul crew operating multi-sector days, e.g. FR or ezy.

1. When you prepare an aircraft such as the 737 in the early hours for the first flight of the day, are the pre-flight checks more extensive than on the second / third / fourth rotation when you only have 25 minutes to turn around? (For example, imagine someone had accidentally knocked a switch during over-night maintenance etc. and this needed to be detected by the crew).

2. Do you have to check absolutely every switch on the overhead panel before the first departure?

3. In the standard lo-co roster where the aircraft is "assigned" to one crew for the morning and then handed over to a new crew at lunchtime who then operate it for the second half of the day, do the new crew have to start again with all the checks or can they "trust" what their colleagues did earlier?

Thanks,
Nick

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Not FR or EZY but was Flybe, if that'll do?!

1. Yes, the first flight of the day checks is, probably, the longest checklist on the sheet. It will cover every switch and button in the flight deck ensuring they are in the right position. Checking oxygen masks, lights, warning systems and the like aswell. Subsequent 'turnaround checks' are generally shorter and won't cover the things like O2 masks, emergency lights and stuff, on the assumption that if it was broken we'd know about it already.

2. Yes, see above.

3. The first flight of the day checks are more properly called the first flight of the duty checks. So, yes, a crew taking over should start again at the beginning, especially if the aircraft has been de-powered.

[SNS3Guppy]

The walk-around is the same every time, and should be done the same on every leg.

The cockpit checks will depend on what's going on. Generally if one goes as far as the parking checklist (for us), then one is going to do the full checks all over again. In my case, if I'm moving on, it's usually a two to six hour sit in the cockpit waiting. If I didn't leave the airplane (I usually don't), then some items such as the oxygen mask will be left on and won't need to be re-tested. Anything else that's been turned off will still be tested again.

I prefer to do the full flow, which is touching every switch, light,and control, and testing everything as I go. It ensures I don't miss anything. I do the same thing if my flow gets interrupted, because it's too easy to start at the wrong place and forget something.

I learned the hard way regarding starting over. Many years ago I was called away from packing a parachute, and attempted to pick up where I left off. I left a brake line unstowed, and ended up spending time in the intensive care ward of a nearby hospital, as a result. My policy from then on was that any time I was interrupted, I'd start over from the beginning. I apply the same philosophy to turns on the ground. Each leg is a new flight, and I'll be using the same equipment; it all deserves test and verification as required.

In our case, the walk-around is conducted by a flight engineer (yes, we still have them, and they're still as important as ever). The flight engineer is as thorough with each leg as the first leg, and equally as attentive during the post-flight walk-around after the last leg, too. If the next engineer finds something that the last guy missed, then it's the last guy who has to answer...and it's happened from time to time.

Likewise, if I leave the cockpit during a turn-around between legs, who's to say that someone hasn't entered the cockpit and done something? Perhaps a mechanic was addressing something, and moved a switch, or changed out a gauge or circuit breaker. If I don't check everything when it's my turn to sit back in that seat and prepare for the next leg, who else can I blame but myself for not being thorough?

[Nicholas49]

Thanks for the replies.

SNS3Guppy - I dare say that your thoroughness regarding starting over whenever you're interrupted etc. is easier on long-haul flights when the turnaround times are greater.

[SNS3Guppy]

Turn-arounds on the typical legs I fly are longer; generally two hours at a minimum, sometimes six or more hours. However, that is irrelevant to the question of safety.

If one needs to start over, one needs to start over.

Not all my flying has involved such long turnarounds. I did fire for many years, involving rapid responses and extremely quick turn-arounds; safety doesn't have a time limit, and it doesn't take a long time to do the right thing.

[SNS3Guppy]

That must have been a pretty small canopy to have ended up in intensive care. I was jumping in the summer and my right brake line got stuck for a few moments, i considerd chopping it!!

It wasn't a small canopy. It was a cruiselite, if you're familiar (may be before your time), and given the round reserve, the strong winds, the mountainous terrain, the long spot over a cliff, the reduced AGL altitude due to proximity of a mesa and cliff, and damage done to the canopy and adjacent lines, an end cell closure, and a controllability issue (it was spinning violently at the time, I didn't cut away, kept what I had, attempted to stabilize it, and then hit a cliff.