The Bold Print

Many emergency checklist items should be reflexive and committed to memory. On the ground, you can roll your own, but never forget flying the airplane is first.

Tom Turner

Friday, October 19, 2012 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots must distinguish between critical, time-sensitive "memory items" that demand immediate action and less urgent checklist steps, prioritizing the former for memorization.
General aviation pilots should extend beyond standard POHs by creating custom emergency checklists for non-systems issues or missing scenarios, identifying and memorizing the crucial "bold print" steps within them.
Rigorous practice, including rote memorization, flashcards, and cockpit drills, is essential for internalizing these critical emergency procedures and ensuring swift, decisive action under stress.

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Fishpot Turner!” yelled the voice at the front of the small classroom. Clad in an olive-drab U.S. Air Force flight suit, I sprang to attention from my chair behind a small table. I was one of about 20 pre-solo students in the USAF’s Flight Screening Program—Officer Training: FSPOT, pronounced “fishpot.” We were undergoing initial pilot qualification prior to commissioning as officers in the U.S. Air Force. Our aircraft was the T-41A Mescalero, off-the-shelf 1965 and 1967 model Cessna 172s in stars-and-bars paint flying out of Hondo, Texas.