Human Factors: Checklists

What comes to mind when you are in a transfer situation and someone asks you to run a checklist?

Word Cloud!

We invite you to share your thoughts using a word cloud:

1. Open the word cloud in a new window by right clicking on The Checklist Word Cloud. Write your answer and submit it, and then just close the window to return to the course.
2. Now you can view the results!

• In aviation, we know that checklists work on many levels. Most obviously, they ensure that the aircraft is in the appropriate configuration every time for every critical stage of flight. This becomes even more important when the stress levels rise in both normal and non-normal situations and things are likely to be forgotten, as you have seen in the video.

Checklists (and algorithms) are an excellent tool in controlling the pace and structure of a scenario.

• Notice how the checklist discipline from the co-pilot prevented the captain’s clear distraction with other matters becoming a problem. By the end of the Before Start checklist, the captain was thinking in a much more structured and ordered way.

Questions For Comments

• Do you skip checklists? If so, why do you think that is?
• Do you think running a checklist slows a scenario down?
• How can you prevent a checklist becoming a “tick-box exercise”?
• Is there ever a case for running a checklist from memory?

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. For further reading – including aviation case studies and WingFactors top tips – please click on the SHELL model downloads link (below) before moving on.