Passenger Evacuation - Memory Item or QRH?
 

Recently (?) Boeing changed the Evacuation from a Recall (Memory) item to drag out the QRH and read and do. That's so pilots don't forget vital items I suppose. We train various airlines from various countries in the sim and regardless of what Boeing recommends, most use the Evacuation as a memory item. In other words whip through it as quick as possible so people don't get burned to death waiting for someone to labour through a checklist - if they can find it in the thick smoke invading the flight deck.

We are not in a position to demand these visiting crews use the latest Boeing procedures -we can only advise. They have their SOP's and we have ours with a resigned attitude of East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet, sort of thing..

It got me thinking for a change. Perhaps the commonsense view should differentiate between a planned Evacuation (can't get one wheel down, ditching etc) and an aborted high speed take off skidding off the end on fire and desperate need to get people out before fire and smoke overwhelms them.

I recall a Boeing 707 crash in USA of years ago when the smoke was so thick that the flight deck crew were not only unable to actually read the checklist because of nil visibility in smoke but that medically with thick smoke you eyes will involuntarily close and you are blind. QRH Evacuation checklist read and do, not much good then..

In the airline training world, SOP's are rigidly used and although the captain has the final authority in everything, woe betide if you pull that final authotity card in the simulator. I have observed many times unacceptable delays by the checklist reading pilot trying to find the right QRH Evacuation page then wade through the Evacuation checklist step by step and wasting precious seconds before finally the captain says "All OUT". And that is with no smoke in the simulator.

Perhaps to be realistic, we should train to cover both eventualities. Firstly the prepared Evacuation where the crew casually go through the Evacuation QRH checklist - finger poised on each line and once completed the order goes out and people are shepherded down the slides by the flight attendants. Thats the QRH Evacuation.

Then there is the deadly emergency like the Air Tours B737-200 (Manchester aborted take off due gigantic fuel fed fire and many died because they couldn't get out in time). This type of Evacuation may warrant a Memory or Recall policy where the QRH is actioned after all items completed and at least you have got people out rather than sitting waiting.

Of course, the crew may inadvertently omit certain vital actions if they do the drills off by heart. But keep in mind it is not a one pilot cockpit and is is unlikely that both pilots omit a vital action. Seconds count when certain fire and smoke conditions take over rapidly and people must get out quickly.

Having seen significant delays while the QRH is found and opened at the required page and then reading and then doing, I know passengers are going to be a captive audience to slow reactions up front. I have observed delays of at 45 seconds in the 737 - especially when opening of out-flow valves takes time as the crew stare at the outflow valve needle position - only to find that it needs AC power for the actual gauge to work and you have lost all AC power so pilots keep holding the outflow switch to open because the damned needle appears to be stuck half way. Such things will delay the Evacuation order.

I realise that manufacturers cover their backside by catering for the lowest pilot common denominator which is probably why the policy for Evacuation was changed from Recall to QRH read and do. But does that mean we all follow that policy blindly rather than realistically?

Is it not standard to have the Evacuation on the back cover page of the QRH? That way you dont have to look for the page and not even open the QRH at all.

The thing about staring at the outflow valve indicator might be a result of the wording in the checklist: Outflow VALVE switch ..... Hold in OPEN until the outflow VALVE position indicates fully open.

I used to do it as a memory checklist for years and liked it that way, the checklist in our version (tailored, not original boeing) was a two part checklist with one part for each seat so announcements could be done by the captain independently of the FO and usually came much earlier than nowadays. As a result many captains still do the evacuation call independently and earlier than requested by the checklist while the FO does the read and do stuff.

Tee Emm;
If the smoke is that thick, reading the QRH is not the problem: - neither crew member will be able to reliably find the controls and action them, (fuel cutoff levers/switches, flap lever/spoiler lever etc), or read the indicators/see the warning lights referenced in the checklist. It can be done if the crew member really knows his/her cockpit but that level of response isn't part of training or standard requirements. The situation and the opportunity for reliable crew action for the evac check is already very badly compromised and the crew needs to get out.

It is as likely as it is unlikely that both crew members could omit a vital action. In high-pressure situations, people including crew members tend to follow a leader; if the leader forgets something, the chance that it will not be picked up by another in the immediate circumstances, is high.

Denti;
The great risk there is, unless engine shutdown is coordinated with the evac announcement from the left seat, you're going to evacuate passengers into running engines.

We do it by the QRH after years ago changing our training after our sim sessions revealed that crews were evacuating passengers into engines that hadn't been shut down yet. Read-and-do takes a few seconds longer than the memory drill but is far more reliable. In thick smoke, a memorized checklist can't be executed any better than a QRH for the above-stated reasons. Two people doing the check independant of one another is a case where time saved may be asking for an incident, in my view.

The QRH should be out and even open to the page anyway, but that's an airmanship item. You can't standardize everything.

Memory or QRH?
 

Neither, the short evac checklist is affixed to the instrument panel for all to reference.
A done deal.

There have been quite a few changes to our QRH of this type and the explanation provided was that Boeing had done statistical analysis of checklist usage when under pressure (unplanned scenarios, high workload - as in real life) and with *some* checklists had found that the error/omission rates were significantly lower when done as a non-recall. Obviously, there are some time critical ones which need recall items but the overall effect has been to reduce the number of memory checks.

411a;

How do you conduct the evac checklist - read-do or independent simultaneous actions? If simultaneous, are the engines shut down before the evac order is given?

You have just demonsterated why a hard copy evacuation drill is needed. You have just evacuated carbon-based life units into running engines! In the heat of the moment, there is too much potential to miss essential things. A checklist is needed, but it does take soooo long! It seems a shame, I ran through it again and again until I could do it in seconds in my sleep, but having stopped (and already carried out half the items), you then have to go back to square 1 and start again from the top.

From the list. And have the list handy, either as 411a suggests posted on a part of the flight deck structure or somewhere easily accessable such as on the reverse of the normal checklist - as my company does.

Negative... Not on any of the many carriers I flew with over the past 30 years. Always memory, then pull out the QRH... and that's on 6 Boeing Products for some 10+ operators worldwide.

Current Boeing boiler plate has the Evac checklist on the back of the QRH and it is a read and do. If a carrier wants to create a memory version of this drill and their governing oversight permits such. So be it, but as another poster has pointed out, Boeing research has shown the read and do is significantly more reliable than when in the heat of battle. :ok:

Airline specific.

Quite the opposite. It is a memory item followed up by challenge and response, repsonse. Airlines adopte the "Read & Do Philosophy" to the controlling agency during certification or by revision.

Over the years, I have flown with a number of operators worldwide. Some used the "recall method" and some used the "read and do method" for the Emregency Evac Procedures.

Read-do...and simultaniously, the FE has his items on his specific check list.
And, it wasn't our idea, either...we have ex-Delta aircraft (L1011) and Delta had the evac checklist on the instrument panel.
Good idea, in my opinion.

Guess you missed DAL, then....:rolleyes:

The Evacuation checklist is not a Memory item. Don't know why you think that but clearly it is not as indicated on the the checklist design. The Evacuation checklist is a Quick Action Item but as you should know, not all Quick Action Items are Memory items.

Hmmm... DAL... DAL... damn... what does DAL stand for... wait:eek:!

What does DAL stand for?

Which DAL are you talking about:E?

But seriously... like I said... airline specific:ok:.

As it may apply to your carrier true. However, as you know, there are other carriers on the planet besides yours.

With that being said my carrier, along with other carriers I have flown for, the Evac Cecklist is not only a quick item check list but a memory item too.

By the way IMHO... recall items, from the QRH, should be dumped with the exception of the R/D, and silence the friggen bell.

Okay I think I gave you that leeway in my first post. As a matter of fact that's the underlying subject here, Memory or Read and Do. If your carrier is using the Evacuation checklist as a Memory item how is it displayed? Is it on the back cover of the QRH and annoated with Bold Dashed lines at the bottom, thus indicating it is a Memory item? Or is the dashed line missing?

I'm not arguing with what your carrier does, I'm just telling you how Boeing envisions this particualr checklist.:ok: BTW I'm referencing the 777/787 not anything else.

Excerpt from the QHR or my current carrier.



The above statement is applicable to our Emergency Evacuation Procedure.

Are you referring to airline specific or manufacture specific. Two different animals.

As I said before with 30 plus years of doing flying for various operators worldwide, I have observed the procedure done both ways.

I'm refering to Boeing, the manufacture of the aircraft, as it all starts there and not some place else. If your QRH has the Evacuatuon checklist on the back cover with the Bold dashed line, it is something that your airline has created with Boeing's approval. The base line Evacuation checklist created by Boeing is not a Memory item. End of story.:}

Review your history. The Emergency Evacuation Procedure contained in the original Boeing QRH was a memory item.

The choice as to whether the item should be by memory or by read and do is not entirely an option of the airline. The controlling state of the airline always has the last word on the method a procedure is to be accomplished.

With that being said... the story continues.

Happy flying:ok:.

I give up! You win!:)