Preflight inspections are one of our last opportunities to learn that something is wrong with our aircraft, and to fix it. Some pilots don’t avail themselves of the opportunity, however, which often leads to an in-flight event of some sort, at a minimum, or to something more dramatic. Of course, the quality of preflight inspections varies wildly with the circumstances. What might those circumstances be?
One of them is that we’re much more likely to skip something on the second or subsequent flight of the day than the first one. An airplane you landed 15 minutes earlier really doesn’t need an external inspection or a demonstration that the controls are free and correct, right? Well, maybe. Stuff can happen while airborne that you may not observe until back on the ground. And it’s always a good idea to check engine oil levels before any flight, if for no other reason than it’s a quick and easy thing to do, and the consequences of engine failure can be extreme.
