Post-flight Briefing

What Does Post-flight Mean to You?

As pilots, we develop personal habits and routines that define how we safely operate airplanes.  For most of us this starts at the preflight stage, where we create a plan, inspect the plane, and take to the skies.  At Galvin, we encourage everyone to allow extra time and dive deeper into their preflight planning to ensure safety is never compromised and to gain confidence that what’s planned is what will be encountered.  We accomplish this by evoking curiosity and questioning what we expect and what risks we can mitigate. 

But do we realize the full value of all this planning if we don’t conduct a thorough post flight assessment of the same elements that we gave consideration during preflight?

For many, postflight procedures are simplified and rushed to get the plane secured and keep moving…  We give little or no attention to the overall condition of the parked plane, the accuracy of our planning, and the effectiveness of our risk mitigations.  Instead, we all too often close out flights with smiles from good flights and frustrations from bad flights. 

So next time, when you fill out your logbook, take extra time and ask yourself:

• The Airplane – Did I do a post flight walk around inspection to insure it’s fully secured, and no sign of excess wear and tear that would delay the next flight.  Finding loose fasteners, leaks or drips, or tire issues on post flight is super helpful.
• The Flight Briefing – Was the weather I encountered what I expected?  Were the published NOTAMS or flight restrictions evident?  Or did I encounter conditions contrary to the briefing I received?
• Risk Assessment – Did my risk assessment create awareness and sufficient mitigations?  Or did I encounter additional threats that were missed in planning or unforeseen?

Taking a few minutes to do a post-flight walk-around inspection and re-imagining a recent flight while it’s top of mind can be priceless – it helps identify airworthiness issues as early as possible and affords an opportunity to self-critique and get the very most out of each flight.  Give it a try, I’m confident you’ll benefit.