"Ian Johnston" wrote in message news:cCUlhtvFIYkV-pn2-8OXf57VN35wC@localhost...
On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 21:38:02 UTC, (Mark James
Boyd) wrote:

: "Oh yeah? He had an accident? I bet he
: didn't use the checklist!"

I once had someone try to persuade me to use a checklist for a winch
cable break. Yes, great, run through a list of actions which have to
be started within a second and completed within a few ... the idiot's
an instructor now, and feedback tells me that he's no less of an
idiot...

I recently read the accident report of the ASW20 crash (fatal) at
Williams, CA. Per the check list, they did a positive control check of
the elevator by having the assistant (co-owner) hold the elevator
while the pilot applied force on the stick. Resistance was felt, check
list passed. Only problem was the elevator was not hooked up and what
the pilot felt was the push rod hitting the bottom of the elevator.
Now, if the guy just LOOKED at the connection it would have been
obvious that it was not hooked up (it is in plain site).

Still, he had a second chance to save himself. When the glider decided
to launch itself he could have immediately released and delt with the
situation at a more survivable attitude (the tow pilot released him
instead).

Check lists are not substitutes for plain common sense. If you use
them, do another walk around the glider without the list, looking for
things you might have missed. Following a list may give you tunnel
vision. A DC-9 was landed gear up by two experienced pilots following
a check list (they missed one step). They were so certain that they
had done everything right that they ignored the lack of the sound and
thump of the gear lowering (common sense, again).

Tom