Keep a ‘Lessons Learned’ Log

Stephen Pope

Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 12:18 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots should consider maintaining a "lessons learned" log alongside traditional flight records for detailed post-flight analysis.
This log helps identify operational errors and successes, allowing pilots to develop procedures, correct details, and prevent mistakes from reoccurring.
Consistent reflection on all flight details, even minor ones or after seemingly perfect flights, is crucial for continuous improvement and preventing future errors.

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Most all of us keep detailed logbooks recording the numbers of hours we’ve flown as PIC in the various aircraft types we frequent. Another type of record you might consider keeping is a “lessons learned” log that includes not just the basics of how long you flew and where you went but also a detailed post-flight analysis of what you did right on a given flight and what you did wrong.

Let’s face it, no flight is perfect. Even pilots who’ve been flying for 50 years still can learn a thing or two while seated at the controls of an airplane. Making a written log of what you learned on a given flight can help you develop procedures to ensure operational errors don’t happen again. It might also remind you of some detail worth correcting that might have slipped your mind had you not sat down to think about the entire flight you just flew. You might even uncover a trend you hadn’t noticed.