Better Briefings Can Make All the Difference

“Sit down, shut up, and hold on” might work as a passenger briefing in an action movie, but in the real world, it falls short of adequate. Or even legal, for that matter. 

The FAR in question is 91.107: Use of safety belts, shoulder harnesses, and child restraint systems. Its only real requirement is that, before takeoff, “each person on board is briefed on how to fasten and unfasten that person’s safety belt and, if installed, shoulder harness.” That’s it for Part 91 operators. (If you’re flying 135 and/or 121, see FARs 135.177 and 121.571.) 

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The good news is that, for the most part, there’s no limit to how far beyond that bare minimum we can go. But we also could come up with a plan, or maybe even a passenger briefing checklist.

In Your Seatback Pocket

A quick and easy way to not only comply with the FAR but also manufacturer recommendations is to use its documentation. 

Many manufacturers will furnish passenger briefing cards tailored to the make and model you’re flying. That documentation exists for commercial operators who can’t go wrong using the manufacturer’s material. Unless you’re flying an experimental, there’s likely an FAA or manufacturer-approved document similar to what can be found on the pocket of the seat in front of you when aboard a human mailing tube. 

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If you’re strictly a not-for-hire operation and have some spare time, it’s easy enough to roll your own laminated preflight briefing tailored for passengers. It’s even easier to simply type some stuff into your EFB’s checklist function and read it off to passengers—you do have to remember to use it, however. If you have the time/talent, create your own passenger briefing video and play it back on your iPad. 

Back in the day when we still used paper to brief, plan, and file our flights, the website fltplan.com had a handy feature: You could use the basic data in your flight plan to create and print a “welcome aboard” handout answering some of the basic passenger questions, including the flight’s planned elapsed time and ETA at the destination.

The site, which was acquired by Garmin in 2018, now offers an app for both iOS and Android devices, and still has the passenger briefing feature. You’ll need a printer, though, to include any other necessary passenger briefing items, like seat belts, in your template.

Keep It Simple? It Depends 

The sit down/shut up/hold on briefing has a lot going for it, aside from the seat belt issue. But there’s a time and place for everything, and we’re responsible pilots who respect our passengers, right? Right.

So we need to offer more in the way of safety, information, and detail. How much more of these three broad topics we provide depends on who the passengers are. 

An easy example is the family member who’s been flying with you since before they could walk. They already know the drill, and a simple “Any questions?” can suffice. It can reasonably be argued that a family member’s preflight briefing has been going on for years.

At the other extreme might be your mother-in-law’s first flight in a personal airplane. Or an FAA inspector doing their job. In both of these cases, you’ll want to go over the top a bit. So, the content and extent of a passenger briefing ideally would be tailored to the audience and fall somewhere between those extremes. 

First-Timers Are Different 

Some things obvious to a pilot or frequent passenger may not resonate at all with someone who’s never been in a personal airplane.

Let’s start with where to walk when boarding a typical low-wing single and what to hold onto as they climb up on the wing. Once seated, make sure seat belts are identified and secured, the seats themselves adjusted, and headsets untangled and checked for operation. 

One thing many pilots forget is that the first-timer in your right seat may not understand what the pedals on the floor are for, nor what he or she should hold onto. Those answers need to be clearly explained. Moreover, that passenger must not stretch their legs and interfere with the pedals nor grab the yoke for leverage to move their seat up. 

In many airplanes, that passenger also is going to be sitting by a cabin door, perhaps the only one. They must be shown how to open it and then demonstrate their understanding of this for me. I also tell them not to use the door handle for leveraging a new sitting position—just leave it alone, and it will leave you alone.

And I really don’t like it much when a passenger leans against the cabin door. I like it even less when they open their storm window without inquiring. 

Your airplane likely will have other “features” you’ll want to point out. Taller passengers will appreciate warnings about Cessna’s forehead-denting aileron trailing edges, for example, and most will appreciate knowing where the Sic-Sacs and first-aid kit are. 

One other item certain pilots may want to cover is how to deploy their airframe parachute and/or autoland systems. They also may not want to brief passengers about either system at all. The manufacturers and type clubs likely have thought about what pilots should tell their passengers when either system is installed to guard against a passenger who panics and pulls the handle or pushes the button against the pilot’s wishes. 

Down and Out 

One thing I always add to a passenger briefing is what to do if the airplane lands on something that isn’t a runway.

In the Debonair, there’s really only one way out— through the cabin door. I tell them that once the airplane comes to a stop at the accident site, open the door, release the shoulder harness, and get out of the airplane. Once outside, move away from it laterally, if possible. 

I also tell them if they stop to ask a question they’ll be talking to themselves, because I will have crawled over them to the outside by then. It’s imperative the passenger sitting next to the door knows how to open it and get away, especially if there are rear-seat passengers. 

In fact, rear-seat passengers should get a different briefing to include pushing forward on the seatback in front of them to gain access to the door handle if the right-seat passenger can’t. What to do after an off-airport landing or accident is at least one article by itself. But whatever equipment you carry and however simple it may be to deploy, if a passenger doesn’t know about it, it’s useless. 

Putting It All Together 

Think about what to tell your passengers. Each one has a different background and expectation. Your job is to not only get them back on the ground safely but also to make it a pleasant experience.

That’s hard to do if they aren’t briefed on what to do, what not to do, and how they can help. There are a lot of pilot/passenger interaction possibilities, including their becoming a valued, unofficial crewmember, one you don’t have to brief every flight.

This column first appeared in the November Issue 964 of the FLYING print edition.