Safety
Best Practices in Checklist Design Account for Human Limitations
Several accidents have shone a spotlight on the important role human factors play in the development of checklists.

Aircraft checklists are the foundation of pilot standardization and flight deck safety. Following a series of air carrier accidents in the late 1980s, safety professionals began to recognize and have concerns that the improper use, non-use, or poor design of checklists could potentially contribute to an aircraft accident. Until this point, the design of the checklist and the philosophy of its use escaped input or analysis from human factors professionals.

The NTSB first recognized the importance of checklist use and its critical role in flight safety in 1969 following the no-flap takeoff crash of a Pan American Airways Boeing 707-321C from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. The crash of Pan Am’s Clipper Racer—an all-cargo flight destined for South Vietnam—killed all three crewmembers.

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