Human Factors Issues of the Aircraft Checklist

Abstract

Verbatim from Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons. Not paraphrased, not summarized.

Formal checklists have been used in aircraft since before World War II. As aircraft developed and became more and more complicated, the checklist became more important. Modern cockpits have become so complex that it would be impossible to operate such aircraft without checklists. Even though flight crews are trained in the use and importance of checklists, accidents still occur in which misuse of the checklist or poor checklist design are contributing factors. Proper checklist use and optimum checklist design are human factors issues. Degam and Wiener (1994) point out that until very recently, checklists have not undergone enough scrutiny and analysis by the human factors profession. The premise of this paper is that flight safety can be enhanced by proper checklist usage and good checklist design.

Author

• Ross, Patrick Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University