Published 20 Jul 2023
What is an Aviation Checklist?
An aviation checklist is a tool used to identify any potential risks to aircraft before take-off, flight, landing, and taxiing. It guides pilots and aircraft safety officers in ensuring airworthiness. It helps determine irregularities that need to be addressed immediately to prevent any flight incidents or fatalities.
In this article
- Importance of Aviation Checklist
- 3 Vital Tips for Creating a Good Aviation Checklist
- How SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) can Help Improve Aircraft Safety
- Featured Aviation Checklists
Importance of Aviation Checklist
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) practical test standards require pilots to use the appropriate checklists, not just going through flow patterns or mental notes. This applies to different stages of flying, such as pre-flight. An aviation checklist is a simple list of commands every pilot should be able to understand. It helps in verifying the safety of the aircraft and ensuring it was configured correctly for the next phase of flight. It is crucial to comply with aviation checklists to:
- reduce the risk of life-threatening emergencies,
- prevent human error, and
- mitigate aircraft operational malfunction.
3 Vital Tips for Creating a Good Aviation Checklist
An aviation checklist supports flight crew airmanship and helps ensure there are no oversight prerequisite actions in the operation. The following tips will help in creating an efficient aviation checklist:
- Identify your checklist (Do-confirm or Read-do)
A Do-confirm checklist allows users to go through necessary steps within the checklist and run through it to ensure completeness. For example, in performing aviation safety checks the pilot monitoring reads the items to be checked and the pilot flying confirms the configuration or status of the item.
While a Read-do checklist allows users to perform the aircraft inspections as they’re reading through the checklist. For example in an aviation audit, an aircraft safety officer assesses the condition of an aircraft while running through the checklist. - Keep it simple and precise
An aviation checklist should be easy to understand, simple, and precise. It is recommended to limit the items between 5 and 9 to focus on crucial points and avoid overlooked items. - Test your checklist
It is important to test the efficiency of aviation checklists. It should help ensure a safe and secure aircraft operation to reduce the risk of human error.
How SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) can Help Improve Aircraft Safety
Aircraft or aviation maintenance is one of the most crucial activities that airline owners should regularly perform and regulate. Maintenance checks are done mainly for 4 reasons:
- To minimize aircraft downtime;
- To extend the life of aircraft;
- To ensure passenger safety; and
- To maintain high operational performance.
Aviation checklists are traditionally printed on paper-based cardboard or laminated card which are inconvenient when an interruption comes in. Keeping a finger on a particular item on the list is burdensome for aircraft crews that may lead to repetitive checks. Avoid this hassle with SafetyCulture, a digital inspection app that has helped aviation and transportation companies efficiently perform aircraft inspections. An aviation maintenance software is a tool that allows you to conduct smart and efficient maintenance checks for better aircraft performance. Prevent mechanical failures by tracking and conducting regular aircraft inspections. Below are SafetyCulture features that can help improve aircraft safety:
- Create smart checklists
Pilots, cabin crew, and airports use multiple daily checklists. Ensure you are operating as efficiently as you can by eliminating the paper you use. SafetyCulture allows users to build intelligent checklists that collect data faster and easier. It works in remote locations, even 30,000 ft in the air. Perform safety checks while you are offline and simply sync your audit back to your cloud-based account when you come back online. - Use your ‘team intelligence’
Instead of focusing on hierarchy, the aviation industry put an emphasis on individual intelligence to foster team intelligence. Through the use of digital checklists, you can dramatically raise effectiveness and reduce errors. SafetyCulture allows your team to log critical errors that you can analyze later to make improvements to your processes. - Images provide clarity
Use SafetyCulture’s image capture and annotation tool to display best practices by embedding annotated images and diagrams within checklists. Flight crews are more often than not virtual strangers before they hop into the cockpit. Use images to convey safety messages clearly. - Report on critical errors
SafetyCulture allows you to instantly create reports as soon as your inspection is complete. Review and take corrective action on issues before they become critical. - Centralize your safety compliance
Ensure your crew is all working from tested and high-quality checklist templates by creating standard company templates and sharing them with your team. Make changes on the fly and push out the new template so flight crew are always using the latest advancements and have access to the most up-to-date information. - Insight and visibility
Using the analytics platform, you have access to real-time data as the flight crew is capturing it. Instantly see once an audit is completed in an aircraft and has passed its pre-flight inspection or if the flight craft engineers have authorized the aircraft to be safe to operate.
To get you started we have prepared free ready-to-use aircraft checklists you can download and customize according to your standard format.
Featured Aviation Checklists
Daily Aviation Security Control Checklist
This daily aviation security control checklist is used to assess the security in the airport. It secures the following area: check-in counter, boarding gate, baggage departure, aircraft protection, catering, and cargo.
Aircraft Checklist
This aircraft detailing checklist was created by Chicagoland Aviation using SafetyCulture. Chicagoland Aviation is dedicated to delivering the most client-focused general aviation experience. This template has been created to check the interior and exterior damages of an aircraft.
Aircraft Departure Checklist
An aircraft departure checklist is used to assess the pre-departure flight information and condition. It helps inspect the safety of the aircraft including the passenger loading bridge, crew stairs, and personnel.
Aircraft Arrival Checklist
An aircraft arrival checklist is used to assess the pre-arrival flight information and condition. It helps assess if marshaller and wing walkers are in the proper position to ensure a safe landing.
Aircraft Ground Handling Checklist
This aircraft ground handling checklists help ensure IATA's Safety Audit of Ground Operations (ISAGO) program is assessing the operations and control systems for airline ground handling services.
NAA Alertness Assessment Checklist
NAA alertness assessment checklist is used to check the physical and mental condition of the pilot. It validates if the pilot had enough sleep and doesn’t feel fatigued before commencing work.
Audit Checklist for the Aerospace Industry
The aerospace industry can use this template when performing regular audits of their aircraft to confirm that they are compliant to rules and regulations surrounding the aviation sector. The areas that this checklist reviews include general audit information, regulatory and process approval, certifying staff, certification of maintenance, packaging, and reporting. It is also easily customizable according to an organization’s needs.
