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Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-91/7
Title and Subtitle: The Use and Design of Flightcrew Checklists and Manuals
Report Date: April 1991
Authors: Turner, J.W. and Huntley, M.S, Jr.
Abstract: A survey of aircraft checklists and flight manuals was conducted to identify impediments to their use and to determine if standards or guidelines for their design were needed. Information for this purpose was collected through the review of checklists and manuals from six Part 121 and nine Part 135 carriers, review of NTSB and ASRS reports, analysis of an ALPA survey of air carrier pilots, and by direct observation in air carrier cockpits. The survey revealed that some checklists and manuals were difficult to locate and were poorly designed for use in the cockpit environment, the use of checklists by flight crews was not always well defined, the use of checklists interfered with other flight operations, and flight operations often made it difficult to use checklists effectively. The report contains recommendations for the formatting and content of checklists and manuals, their use by flightcrews, and areas of research relevant to checklist design.
Key Words: Checklist, Normal, Emergency, Abnormal, Readability, Interruptions, Manuals, Conformance
No. of Pages: 75