Good Habits Gone Bad

Good habits are an important part of being a safe pilot. Habits encourage consistency, which helps a pilot do the right things at the right times. But there are dark sides to habits. Even if we do the right thing at the right time, its easy to miss something if were distracted while mindlessly performing our habit. Or, a normally good habit can be absolutely the wrong thing if invoked at the wrong time. Plus, any habit done by rote without recognition or thought can be dangerous. Perhaps worst, if were performing these habits without monitoring them we can slip into bad habits.

Editorial Staff

Friday, August 01, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

While good habits are crucial for pilot consistency and safety, they can become dangerous if performed mindlessly, at the wrong time, or when a pilot is distracted.
Rote execution of ingrained habits, without active thought or situational awareness, frequently leads to critical errors such as missed steps, incorrect procedures, or responding inappropriately to unique situations.
To mitigate these risks, pilots must maintain mental engagement, actively understand the "why" behind each action, verify outcomes, and use checklists thoughtfully (not passively) as a verification tool, restarting them after any interruption.

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Good habits are an important part of being a safe pilot. Habits encourage consistency, which helps a pilot do the right things at the right times. But there are dark sides to habits. Even if we do the right thing at the right time, it’s easy to miss something if we’re distracted while mindlessly performing our habit. Or, a normally good habit can be absolutely the wrong thing if invoked at the wrong time. Plus, any habit done by rote without recognition or thought can be dangerous. Perhaps worst, if we’re performing these habits without monitoring them we can slip into bad habits.