Page 10 - Sept18T

It was not until I joined Uncle Sam’s Army as a rotary wing pilot that I learned all about the importance of a checklist. Every flight from day one was with an- other pilot in the other seat, ranging from an instructor in the early days, to a Pilot- in-Command when I was assigned to my first unit, and then to a co-pilot for much of the rest of my career. Checklists were drilled into our routine, and not just during run-up and taxi...we’d use the checklist for every phase of flight. But, this was a multi-crew aircraft, and there was no excuse for not using the checklist. The checklist was performed by the pilot-not-f lying (PNF) reading the checklist and the pilot flying (PF) re- sponding. With one pilot not flying, it’s easy to safely run the checklist, even in a tough phase flight.
When I left the regular Army, I be- came an airline pilot and the checklist was again used prolifically in those two- pilot aircraft. Literally every phase of flight included a checklist and the same “call-out and response” format. This is as it should be, and there’s no doubt it is appropriate for the safety record of the
airlines is exemplary. But, the Army and the airlines both have two-pilot cockpits, and it’s difficult to replicate those pro- cedures in a high-performance, super- advanced, single-pilot airplane operating in hard IFR.
Fast forward to today and I see a wide range of cockpit f lows, checklist use and cockpit procedures. To be forthright, most of the pilots that see me for train- ing have reverted to their early days of flying, and only use a checklist during start, run-up and taxi. A few don’t even have a checklist in the cockpit, and some have four or five different varieties of checklists yet don’t use any particular one regularly. Checklist use, both how and when, is at random.
What a Checklist is Really For
So, how should a pilot manage the cockpit? The airlines and military have proven that checklist use contributes to safety, and we in the general aviation world should also use checklists. But, how should they be used without a second pilot in the cockpit most of the time?
In my opinion, the checklist should be used exactly as it sounds: a “check” list, not a “read and do” list. By this, I mean that a pilot should conduct the items that are listed on the checklist for vari- ous phases of flight from memory (some call this a “f low”), and then the checklist should be used to “check” and make sure that everything is accomplished.
For instance, the pilot should takeoff and then conduct a flow of tasks found on the after takeoff checklist from memory, and then run the after takeoff checklist by reading down each item and confirm- ing those tasks were completed. Then, the same is done for the climb, cruise, descent and approach checklist after those phases of f light are encountered. Once on the ground, the airplane should be brought to a full stop off of the runway and the after landing checklist can be accomplished by either the “check” list or the “do” list method.
I am strongly against a pilot using a checklist as a “read-and-do list” in flight. A read-and-do list means that a pilot will read one item on the list, do it, and then refer back to the check list again for the next item to accomplish. The read-and-do list method is simply too slow for single-pilot operations. I’ve seen many well-meaning and serious pilots get completely behind the airplane by trying to read and do while in a critical phase of flight. Try hand-flying an ILS while reading a checklist and I’ll show you an approach that is ugly at best, and downright dangerous at worst. There’s only one time that a “read-and-do list” method is acceptable in single-pilot IFR, and that is while t•he airplane is NOT moving on the ground.
This article first appeared in the most recent issue of MMOPA Magazine and was used with permission. T&T
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Joe Casey is an FAA-DPE and an ATP, CFI, CFII (A/H), MEI, CFIG, CFIH, as well as a U.S. Army UH-60 standardiza- tion instructor/examiner. An MMOPA Board member, he has been a PA46 in- structor for 16-plus years and has accu- mulated 12,000-plus hours of flight time, 5,500 of which has been in the PA46. Contact Joe at: www.flycasey.com, by email at joe@flycasey.com, or by phone at 903.721.9549.
8 • TWIN & TURBINE
September 2018