

Pre-flight check lists help target the details so that pilots are completely focused on getting the flight out as safely as possible without the added stress of potentially forgetting a memorized set of checks. Soon after this system was implemented in the military, it was adopted by commercial airlines as well, ultimately becoming a practice within aviation throughout the world.
PILOT PREFLIGHT INSPECTION SERIES
The result was a series of safety checks that became part of the first established safety management system in the history of aviation. Military to take a hard look at what could be done to prevent such an incident in the future. It had been an avoidable loss that caused the U.S. Hill in uniform circa early 1930s.Īn investigation into the crash showed that a clamp for the elevator flight control had not been removed before the flight took off, causing the airplane to lose a lot of input range in its pitch. Picture of Doug Hill’s grandfather, Major Ployer P. One other person was killed and three others sustained injuries. Unfortunately, within moments of takeoff, the aircraft began to shudder, unable to ascend correctly, and tragically crashed, killing Hill instantly.

Hill was one of the Army Air Corps’ top test pilots, and the flight was to be an experimental one, working out any kinks to ensure the aircraft was airworthy. On a nice October day at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, Ployer Peter Hill climbed aboard the 299 in anticipation of a routine takeoff. In 1935, the Boeing 299 was released to be flown as a brand new, updated military aircraft. Unfortunately, he was killed due to the elevator gust lock not being disengaged prior to flight. Picture of the XB-17 (Model 299, later to become the B-17) after the fire was extinguished which was test flown by Major Hill on October 30, 1935. But, in 1935 there was a plane crash on Wright Field, and the history of aviation was changed ever after. Airplanes flew for almost thirty years without any sort of official mandate to monitor the mechanics of the aircraft. However, this pre-flight check list was not always standard procedure.

This is now a routine task in aviation all across the world. These checks are performed by the pilots to ensure that every working piece is in order and that the aircraft is prepared to safely complete the flight. In light of the recent technical malfunctions with the Boeing 737-800 MAX aircraft, the tragedy once again, brings to mind the importance of the checks that are performed on aircraft before they are released to airlines, and especially to the pre-flight checks that occur before every flight.
