Find It by Feel: A Pilot’s Essential Cockpit Lesson

Gain mastery of controls and circuit breakers on the ground before in-flight emergencies.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, February 03, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

It’s important to learn what each circuit breaker does in the cockpit. [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Pilots must thoroughly learn the location and function of all cockpit controls, including flight controls, circuit breakers, and switches, by feel to effectively manage emergencies such as smoke or night flying.
Circuit breakers are vital for preventing electrical fires and managing instrument malfunctions; pilots are advised to pull them in emergencies (e.g., wingtip fire, runaway trim/autopilot) and land immediately if any electrical issues arise.
It is essential for pilots to familiarize themselves with the specific cockpit layout of each aircraft before flight, through pre-flight review or dedicated training, especially for complex systems like autopilots.

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One of the most important lessons I learned as a student pilot came with my eyes closed.

It was finding the location of the flight controls and circuit breakers in the cockpit, and knowing what each one did. The idea was if the cockpit filled with smoke, or I was caught out at night with no flashlight (highly unlikely for me, but this was training), I would be able to find the throttle, propeller, carburetor heat, and mixture controls by feel, and identify the circuit breakers by their position—for example, “three buttons in from the right is the autopilot.”