Keep Your Cockpit Gear From Going Rogue

Unsecured EFBs and personal items aren’t just distractions—they’re potential hazards.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, July 07, 2026 at 11:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Keeping the cockpit of your aircraft organized is vitally important for safety. [Credit: FLYING Archive]

Key Takeaways:

Unsecured items, including Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs), checklists, and personal belongings, can become dangerous projectiles or distractions in the cockpit during flight maneuvers or turbulence.
Pilots must ensure all equipment, especially EFBs, is properly secured using appropriate mounts or kneeboards to prevent interference with controls or visibility, often requiring trial and error to find the right solution for specific aircraft.
Over-reliance on EFBs for navigation is a significant concern, as pilots risk neglecting fundamental pilotage and dead reckoning skills, which examiners frequently test by simulating electronic failures.
Maintaining "head up" situational awareness and actively looking outside the cockpit is crucial for all pilots to enhance safety, navigate effectively, and avoid becoming overly engrossed in electronic devices.

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The learner showed up early for his IFR lesson with his tablet EFB (electronic flight bag) and spent the next 15 minutes trying to secure it in the aircraft. The tablet measured 8 by 11, and he wanted to use a yoke mount he had before in a Mooney.

I don’t know if it was the yoke on the Cessna 172 or the tablet, or the mount, or a combination—but it just didn’t work. The tablet was too large and heavy, got in the way of the controls, and blocked the view of the instrument panel.