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:

The article emphasizes differentiating "bold print" (critical, memory) emergency checklist items from less time-sensitive ones, advocating for immediate, memorized action for survival in aviation emergencies.
It highlights that standard Pilot's Operating Handbooks (POHs) often lack procedures for non-system emergencies or all system failures, encouraging pilots to create custom checklists and identify their own critical "bold print" steps.
Effective preparedness involves dedicated memorization and practice techniques, such as studying systems, using flashcards, and hands-on cockpit drills, to ensure pilots can react swiftly and correctly 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.