Why are Pre-Flight Checks So Important?
Have you ever wondered why pilots, especially private pilots, carry clipboards around?
The answer is quite simple - their lives (and those of their passengers) literally depend on it!
I had the fortune of going flying again this weekend with a good friend of mine and was reminded of this basic principle. I took my old pre-flight checklist along for the ride and tried my best to keep-up with Sean as he walked around the plane, checking each item meticulously.
He carefully checked the oil, drained a little fuel, looked at the control surfaces, checked the tires, etc. until he was reassured that the airplane was truly flight-ready.
Then, as we sat in the plane, he checked that the doors were securely latched, and that we had our seatbelts securely fastened and before we knew it, we were airborne!
Flying over Mount Olympus in Washington State
No pilot - even the most experienced pilot, would rely on memory to make sure that every single item on the checklist has been verified before getting in the aircraft and taking-off.
It is just too risky to have the engine cut in mid-flight because there was water in the fuel tanks, or to discover while landing that the tire pressure was low.
There is no room for error!
You simply cannot overlook a checklist item.
So, why is it that when developing and shipping products, we rely on OUR memories? Given that our lives don’t always depend on making sure that each and every item has been check-off, but our profits might.
What if we ship an inferior product to our customers simply because we forgot to run a final spell-check, or forgot to review the schematics for power and ground connections before sending them out the door?
When we are eager to move-on to the next phase, we often forget these basic quality principles. In the case of our pilots, this could potentially lead to disastrous results. Why should it be any different for us?