What to include in a briefing in a sim assessment

[Tolan]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice as to what I should include in briefings in sim assessments, ie. pre-take off and approach.

Thanks.

[redsnail]

Rwy in use. Condition.
Flap in use.
Calls you want to hear.
Speeds
Abnormal actions. ie what you'd do (if nothing stated, rwy heading, accel altitude and MSA you'll climb to, then further actions.)
Normal departure. Nav aid set up. First turn. Stop altitude. (checking QNH set) What nav you'll use for the departure.

Sum up whilst taxiing.

Flap setting.
Performance, any changes, wet/dry
Emergency turn - if any
Departure. State it's name and first turn.
Stop altitude.

Thanks for that Also, make sure you give an opportunity to let your colleague ask questions. I usually get my colleague to go through the FMS programming as I brief the departure.

[bjkeates]

Try and make it interactive as well - one of the things we've been taught time and time again is not to turn it into a lecture. Ask the other guy to confirm the date on the plate, what he makes the highest MSA, what the stop altitude is, what the relevant MDA is - things like that.

[MVE]

Just make sure it's a brief and not a long!

[pablo2973]

in ATR

I fly ATRīs and in this airplane ,its mandatory to include in the briefing the freezing level altitude ,since ATR are very prone to icing and we need to know at what altitude we are going to encounter this situation , ( before or after acceleration altitude ).
thanks

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

I think it is a good thing to be thinking about, however, when you do a sim assessment the most important thing that the examier will be interested in is your flying and the amount of spare capacity you have.

It is highly unlikely you are going to get any sort of emergencies i.e. engine failure at V1, or a rejected take off unless you are an experienced jet pilot (I am assuming your only experience is pistons?). You will be fully briefed on what is expected of you before you do it. When I was assessed, the examier was not interested in you briefing every last detail, however it is worth mentioning just to show you have thought about it.

Good luck.

[MVE]

In the couple of assessments I've done, they didn't want any brief at all! They did the initial brief and we were just assessed on hand flying skills. Simple.

[Speedbird744]

At the start, review any MELs,CDLs and the general status of your aircraft.
Another thing to add is at some point ask your FO, if there is anything that he/she feels unhappy about with the way you're flying to let you know. That is more about maintaining good CRM.

[AltFlaps]

If you are asked to brief, hold your plate in the middle of the aircraft so that you both read from the same chart. From a CRM point of view, this is very beneficial (you're not both looking outboard).

Lots of good advise above, but also think about the real world:

• where's the terrain
• can we land back here if we need to
• where else might we go

Also, make the most of your capacity on the departure:

• ask the other guy to tune your navaids for you (give him explicit instructions so that it's effectively his responsibility)
• tell the other guy what the next frequency will be

You really need to engage the other pilot (even if its the examiner). As much as anything else on a check ride, your CRM and multi-crew skills are being assessed. It's a given that your flying skills need to be up to scratch (if not, you won't get through) - but the examiner needs to know that he'd be happy to sit in a cramped flightdeck with you for 10 hours at a time with regretting his decision.