Matthew Waugh

I’ve flown with a number of pilots on their Flight Reviews lately and I’m amazed at the number of pilots who don’t use a checklist. Some of them make an effort, it can be amusing to watch them try to balance the POH on their knee while trying read and follow a checklist they obviously haven’t seen in the past 2 years. Most don’t make an effort.

That’s OK, these people have made a decision that, for whatever reason, they don’t want to use a checklist. Some of them will say they don’t need a checklist, but after we’ve taxied around with the flaps down for a while, or forgotten to turn the boost pump on for take-off it’s pretty clear that they do need a checklist.

This article probably won’t convince you to start using checklists, you’ve been flying for a while, you’re not dead yet, how much can it hurt? I’m going to try anyway, please read this article and please give it some thought. If you do that, and still decide you don’t need to uses checklists then so be it. I’ve tried, you’ve thought about it. We’re all adults making our own decisions.

For a similar point of view, presented through analysis of ASRS reports you might try the book Controlling Pilot Error: Checklists & Compliance.

Why use a checklist?

Let’s say our pilot doesn’t use a checklist. He’s got plenty of hours logged, heck some months he may get 4 or 5 hours logged over a couple of weekends. He hasn’t had an accident or incident yet, why use checklists, they just get in the way? Sure, our pilot forgets a few things, he often taxis around with the flaps dangling down, the beacon light not on, perhaps he’s started more than few takeoff rolls with the windows open the mixture still leaned for taxi. These are all little things, right?

It’s not one little thing that will kill you, it’s a string of little things. It’s the chain of actions that lead up to an accident that causes the accident, or at least doesn’t prevent it. Read any accident report, read any analysis of an accident report, read any magazine article about an accident and you’ll be able to identify the chain of little things that could have prevented the accident. Change any of those little things and the accident never happens. Are they all the result of not using a checklist, of course not, but may of them are!

Checklists break the chain of forgetting things that lead up to accidents.

Manufacturer’s Checklists

Yes I know, they’re long and tedious, and in many cases were written by lawyers not pilots and often read as instructions on how to fly the plane, not checklists to make sure we’re not forgetting anything. I’m not going to recommend not using the manufacturers checklist, they made the plane, they ought to know best how to fly it. This article isn’t aimed at people who are already using a checklist and just need to decide which one to use. People reading this article have decided not to use a checklist, so this article is going to try and convince them use a checklist, any checklist.

So what do we put on the checklist?

Let’s assume we’re going to write our own checklist for our own plane. For whatever reason we refuse to use the manufacturers checklist, but we’re open to idea that perhaps we should use some kind of checklist.

The first thing we must put on the checklist are the killer items. The things that, if we don’t get them right could kill us, or, in concert with something else, could kill us. At a minimum we need that information on our checklist.

The second thing we might want to consider are those things that could damage or limit the life of our airplane. We’re assuming you have some vested interest in keeping the plane in good mechanical order.

For our third thing let’s add those things required by regulation, there aren’t many of them, but while we’re striving to be better pilots let’s try and play by the rules.

Finally I like to add the things that, if left undone, will embarrass me amongst my fellow pilots, passengers or people passing by.

You decide which of the items from that list you might want to put on your checklist.

The Cessna C172R

Let’s take a look at a few checklists for a Cessna C172R and identify the items on the checklist and which category they fall into. Your plane will vary from this list. For example, if your plane has retractable gear I consider checks for the gear down are good because it’s a killer item, it will limit the life of the airplane, operating the aircraft on the ground without the gear down doesn’t comply with the regulations the airplane was certified under and finally it’s mighty embarrassing.

Before Starting Engine

Passenger Briefing	COMPLETE	It’s required by regulation.
Seat Belts	ADJUSTED AND LOCKED	Also required by regulation.
Fuel shutoff valve	ON	Now that could kill you.
Prime	CHECKED	It’s embarrassing to sit there churning the engine over and it doesn’t start.
Propeller Area	CLEAR	It might not kill you, at least admit it’s embarrassing if you kill somebody else.
Avionics Switch	OFF	Starting the engine with power to the expensive avionics can cause expensive damage.

 After Starting Engine

Oil Pressure	NORMAL	No oil, engine damage. No oil, sudden engine stoppage, maybe just after liftoff.
Flaps	UP	It’s just plain embarrassing taxing around with the flaps down.
Lights	AS REQUIRED	By regulation our anti-collision lights need to be on, at night we need our NAV lights.
Altimeter	SET	Being 200 feet lower than you think you are, on a low ILS, can kill you.
Heading Indicator	SET	I find it embarrassing to be heading off 40 degrees to one side of my declared heading.
Flight Controls	FREE AND CORRECT	Free – people takeoff with the control lock in place more often than you’d think – that will kill you. Correct – it’s hard to fly when the controls work the opposite to what you expect, than can kill you.

Before Takeoff

Cabin Doors and Windows	CLOSED AND LOCKED	It’s embarrassing to take off with the door open don’t you find?
Fuel Quantity Check	CHECK	It can kill you to run out of fuel, it’s certainly embarrassing (or it should be).
Elevator Trim	CHECK	Full nose up or down trim when it’s unexpected can kill you.
Run-up	COMPLETE	Note that we don’t list all the things to do in the run-up, that’s a recipe, we just want to make sure we did a run-up and got everything covered. Having the engine quit on departure is embarrassing, and it can kill you!
Transponder	ON	It’s required by regulation.

These are not long involved checklists, and if you don’t care about being embarrassed then you can cut them back even further. Our goal is for you to identify those items you don’t want to forget, write them down in a checklist, and use that checklist every time you fly.

Just one more thought, don’t pick up any old checklist from your local pilot shop or that you find lying around the aircraft when you buy it if you aren’t going to use the checklist completely. There’s probably NOTHING more dangerous than a pilot who says they’re using a checklist, has one in their hand, but skips items because “well they’re just not important”. If you’re going to get a checklist get one that makes sense to you and use it, all of it.

I like more detail in a checklist myself, but that’s just a decision I’ve made. What decision are you going to make? Are you going to be the pilot who, one day, forgets the string of things that cause you to crash off the end of the runway and have your fellow pilots nod their heads and go, “yeh, I knew he’d do that one day” or do you want to be the pilot who catches that last minute item by using a checklist and makes a safe, uneventful, flight.

Conclusion

Nobody can make you use a checklist, only you can decide to use checklists. I want to strongly recommend to you that you find a checklist format that works for you and start using it. If you decide not to, well that’s your decision. I wish you safe and happy flying, oh and lucky flying too, you’ll need it.

Custom Checklists

I have available a Microsoft WORD template for preparing custom checklists and I’m happy to provide the template to anyone that asks. If you’re interesting in working with me to develop your own custom checklist please give me a call at 703-634-9181 or drop me an e-mail at mat@mwaugh.com.

Checklists for some aircraft are available on-line – it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, use these at your own risk and as a supplement to the manufacturers checklist.