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Frequent analogies are made between piloting an aircraft and piloting a boat. Both require similar skills and place you at the mercy of the elements in a medium that’s foreign to our bodies. Granted, being suspended in the air may be a tad more precarious than floating on the water, but when the downward spiral of a problem begins in either setting, it typically doesn’t end well. For this reason, an aircraft pilot wouldn’t dream of taking off without performing a pre-flight checklist. Boating is safer when using checklists, too. The concept of a pre-flight checklist was developed following the fatal crash of a test flight in 1935. Leading up to WWII, the U.S. Army Air Corps was looking for a new bomber to meet the demanding needs of long distant flights with heavy payloads. U.S. aircraft company, Boeing, submitted a new plane model for the Army to consider. The Army agreed to try it and scheduled a test flight to see how it would perform. Flying the plane that day were two
for one person’s memory. Using a simple checklist on future flights would ensure that important steps required prior to takeoff were not forgotten. Checklists were developed for more and more parts of a flight, for emergency situations as well as more routine situations. NASA adopted the use of checklists for almost every part of the Gemini and Apollo space missions, and all astronauts were trained in how to use them. Astronauts logged hundreds of hours familiarizing themselves with and learning how to use these checklists. In fact, checklists were so important to the success of the Apollo moon landings that astronaut Michael Collins called them “The fourth crew member.” Safety from the skies to the seas Aboard our boat, we have several checklists for different applications. For example, we’ve found it useful to have two pre-departure checklists: one for leaving a marina and another for leaving an anchorage or mooring.
highly experienced Army pilots, Boeing’s chief test pilot, along with a Boeing mechanic and a representative of the engine manufacturer. After takeoff the plane began to climb, but suddenly pitched up, stalled and crashed into a ball of fire upon impact. All on board were initially rescued, but both pilots died from injuries sustained in the crash. The accident investigation determined that before takeoff, the pilots overlooked a safety lock on the elevator and rudder controls, which kept them from con- trolling the plane’s pitch or attitude. Following the accident, a newspaper stated that the Boeing plane was “just too much plane for one man to fly.” Fortunately, this was not the end of the story, but the beginning of a life-saving idea that would transform how highly complex systems can be operated by average people. Out of this tragedy came the simple and effective concept of the pilot’s pre-departure checklist. Time would prove the Boeing plane was not too much for one person, but just too much
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