FAA General Aviation Passenger SAFETY Briefing [ local copy ]
We discussed this at a recent GASCO evening, I quite like it as a structure
Expectations for communications —talking—are another good topic to include in your passenger briefing. Passengers may not readily under- stand the term “sterile cockpit,” but they will certainly understand that there are times when you need to focus fully on your flying. Let your passengers know that they should not attempt to talk to you (except for traf- fic point-outs) during the busy take- off/climb and approach/landing phases of the flight. If your intercom does not permit you to isolate the crew, let passengers know if you ex- pect them to minimize their own con- versation during these times.
Sadly my own experience over the last 25 years is that this concept is difficult to impart upon private pilots. Too often, in complex single pilot aircraft, I’ve had an accompanying pilot make “helpful” comments and inputs at inappropriate times during high workload stages. For example:
“Look, what’s that out to the right, is that the runway?” in IMC during an ILS approach
“You’re too fast, the flaps aren’t right” at 5nm/160kts in to a busy international airport (the King Air 200 procedure is for landing stage of flap to be selected when reaching the runway is assured, if my memory serves me correctly)
Assuming control of the aircraft during the taxi phase when I was receiving a clearance without telling me
Setting QNH at FL230 because he’d heard it on the ATIS transmission
This PPL had a lapsed IMC rating and, although attending the type rating course for the King Air he had just bought and asked me to fly, the syllabus was beyond him.
I quit flying it about a year later as he was going to put me in an early grave either through distraction or shattering my nerves!
Having a second pair of eyes is useful in the VFR environment but, unless trained and qualified in multi-crew procedures can be an absolute nightmare in IFR. On both counts, my opinion is that the passenger should only intervene during pilot incapacitation.
Peter wrote:
I once took off without any preflight, with a PPL passenger.
Once I was disturbed during a pre-flight by a phone call, and forgot to put the dipstick back in. I found it still sitting on top of the engine after landing. Two quarts of oil over the side of the plane looks like gallons. Good job it was just a 45 minute flight, not a 2 hour one.
I always ask passengers (as part of a preflight briefing) not to talk during the take off, not to talk while where are coming in for landing, and no to talk while anyone else is talking on the radio as I might miss a call intended for me.
As a rule, I find that non-PPL passengers are very good at the takeoff/landing part, but get a little lost in conversation during flight and take a little reminding to stop talking if something happens on the radio. But they catch on to that part very quickly.
Flying with other pilots is a little more different, but I ask them to keep the cockpit quiet and only use essential communication when approaching the field. Generally this works well, but sometimes they talk too much in that period, but in fairness, it’s trying to be helpful. If they start to talk too much about non-important things at that stage, I say “Quiet cockpit now please”. While they might not like that, noone has yet taken any serious offence, and I usually appologise for it later, by which time they understand the reason anyway!
With regular passengers I usually work on keeping talking to a minimum until 5mins after take off and 10mins before arrival, I let them them know when we have 15nm to run to either the field for VFR and the approach fix for IMC. For front seat passengers with the 2nd alt in front of them if we are bellow 1000ft I need to concentrate!
The expectations that come from a sterile cockpit are on my standard passenger briefing.
It is also a standard item on my personal checklist.
A “funny” little story from the real world:
One of my instructors when I trained for my PPL was also flying taxi flights in P68s. One day a family had booked a flight and because theiy were 5 pax one had to sit in the right seat. Old grand ma’ was seated there and got the standard full passenger briefing. After depature the autopilot was switched on an the pilot was updating the flightlog and suddenly the plane went into a steep climb. Grand ma’ had sunk deeper into the seat and wanted to get up again and grabbed for the nearest handle….. the yoke! Fortunately the autopilot made some resistance so he got the plane under control fast.
Michael_J wrote:
Grand ma’ had sunk deeper into the seat and wanted to get up again and grabbed for the nearest handle….. the yoke!
Old people and kids 
My son did that once. He was 5 at the time and didn’t see anything at climb out. So he grabbed the stick trying to get a better view. I’m not sure who got most surprised, him or me.
Except of the usual briefing when not to bother I use the PILOT/CREW switch in the audio panel to isolate them and also tell PAX that when I raise my right hand it means “don’t talk” !
I usually use it for listening to ATC or other instances where my attention is needed.
It’s all about distractions.
Distractions kill (sometimes).
So you need to manage.
Sterile cockpit principle is a great tool to manage distractions. It includes more that just silence:
- maps etc. stowed away, not on lap
- approach charts stowed away in a readable place, on yoke for example
Critical phases of flight is where managing distractions becomes very important. (Perhaps refueling is included in those phases as is the daily/preflight inspection). Normally take-off and landing.
It’s different too in an ATC controlled environment. You need to be listening to the radio and you need to tell your pax to shut up if they hear the radio.
Peter wrote:
IMHO one just has to brief people to keep quiet, and it may upset some…
