Passenger Briefing??

[Smokehouse]

Hello all,

My first post here!

I am a new student pilot and have a very newbie question.

On the checklist for pre-flight it says passenger brief. My instructor and I have not gone over this, I am assuming that we will at some point, but could someone tell me what this briefing is, or if you have one that you do, could you post your "script"?

Thank You

Smokehouse

 

[Smokehouse]

wow that was helpful

 

[Av8rPHX]

Basically you will want to inform the passengers on the operations of the seatbelts,doors,location and operation of fire extinguisher if applicable. Also you will inform the pax that you are the PIC. Kind of think of it as a FA briefing on an airliner.
Hope this info helps.

Av8rPHX

 

[80/20]

Don't touch controls
Exits & emergency equipment
Not to talk when crew communicates with ATC
(Sterile cockpit phases)

Links with info and inspiration for your briefing:
FAR 91.519 - Passenger briefing
Briefings for general and floatplane pilots
FAA Circular

 

[tarp]

Six hours - 4 to 5 flights - a "checklist item" - and your CFI hasn't "covered" this yet?

OK, time out.

It's time for you the consumer to start challenging your instructor. Checklist items are not to be glossed over - in fact, checklist items are items because they are important to the safety of flight. Don't let this instructor get away with this.

Now, granted - in the scheme of things, the passenger brief isn't really all that important. When was the last time any of us took a new passenger for a ride and they didn't have their seat belt buckled almost before we have gotten in the door. People seem to have this sense of personal safety - they instinctively know that a seat belt in a light airplane is a good thing.

However, we have regulations that state that we have to brief our passengers. When you first got in the airplane, hopefully your instructor told you how to fasten the seat belt, where the shoulder harness was and how to get out in an emergency.

At 20 hours in your flight instruction, you should be able to get to the item on your checklist and go:

Pilot: "Passenger Brief"
Instructor: "Done"

(you both know what to do)

When you get to your CHECKRIDE......you better make sure you give the FAA examiner the best darn passenger brief in the world.

You should start rehersing your passenger brief with your CFI now - so that you lose the jitters and get all the points you want - a lot of folks have already touched on the high points. Think of an airline announcement with a little more zest to it:

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard Cessna flight 187, non-stop service to Podunk Municipal Airport. (1) This is a non-smoking flight and please refrain from using any smoking materials until you reach designated areas in the terminal. (2) Federal regulations prohibit any interference with our flight crew today. (3) Please keep your feet and hands away from the control wheel and rudders during flight. (4) Please refrain from using any electronic devices which include laptops, cell phones and PDA's. These must be turned off and stored for takeoff and landing. (5) Your airplane is equipped with one large emergency exit door - Lift the lever (there) and pull towards the rear of the aircraft - do not attempt to open the door in flight. (6) Your aircraft is also equipped with (and you better read 91.205, especially section b.13,14,16 and 17) Seat Belts and shoulder harnesses. To operate, slip the flat metal....into the buckle. Federal law requires that your seat belt (and shoulder harness, if installed) must be worn for taxi, takeoff and landing."

Now 95% of the examiners will just wave their hand when you start the passenger brief because they've heard them over and over. But, you need to learn to do them, you need to learn NOT to skip checklist items and you need to know that your instructor considers the safety of flight as the most important job he/she has.

Good luck.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Don't touch controls
Exits & emergency equipment
Not to talk when crew communicates with ATC
(Sterile cockpit phases)

Links with info and inspiration for your briefing:
FAR 91.519 - Passenger briefing

I agree completely, with one additional reference. Although the briefing requirements for large aircraft 91.159 and under parts 121 and 135 are similar, I like the 135 reference because you can fly little single engine Cessnas under Part 135.

http://www.risingup.com/fars/info/part135-117-FAR.shtml

Of course, even the 135 one doesn't include the sterile cockpit and "don't touch" admonitions that are important in a small airplane.

Edited to add one more link:

There are some popular briefing cards available at Dauntless Software:

http://www.dauntless-soft.com/PRODUCTS/Freebies/SafetyCard/index.html

 

[PCL_128]

I agree with Tarp

Your CFI should have covered this long ago. He should at least have touched on every item on the checklist on the second flight. The checklist is there for a reason, and if you don't understand what all of it means, then you can't really complete the checklist.

Ask your instructor to go over every item on the checklist with you before your next flight. If he brushes it off as not being important, then start looking for a new CFI.

P.S. I've seen students fail PVT checkrides for not doing a decent passenger briefing.

 

[bigD]

One thing the examiner around here always does is not actually buckle his seatbelt - he'd just lay it across his lap. If the student asks if it's bucked, he'll say, "Yep."

So when doing a briefing about the seat belts, verify they're acually buckled - don't take their word for it.

 

[ktulu34535]

Acronym...

If you want an easy passenger briefing consider a short little diddy about what you are going to do (cross country to xyz airport, north practice area, whatever)
and then

SAFE-T

Seatbelts---how to use, when you are required to wear shoulder harnesses

Airvents/Airsickness---- How to operate the airvents, and what to do if you start feeling ill.

Fire Extinguisher--- Where it is located, how to use, precautions to take

Emergency Exits--- open the door, exit on a 45 degree angle away from the airplane

Traffic--- if you see an airplane near us, let us know, tell us what type single engine, twin engine, at our altitude, low, high, and where it is in relation to our airplane

Just one that I learned when I was learning to fly.

Most of the time, its a given if you are going up with your instructor, just say passenger briefing, and say not-needed, but every once and while do it just to keep sharp.

What about a pre-takeoff briefing?

Runway avail vs takeoff performance

Obstacles in the departure path

Clearance (direct to where at what alt, transponder code) if at an untowered airport, how are you going to depart the pattern

Engine Failure on take off roll with rwy remaining and w/o runway remaining

Positive Exchange of Controls and PIC authority

And of course ensure that your radios are set as well as nav equipment.

 

[embdrvr]

LOL.
It's been many years since I've taken a checkride for anything besides 135/121 quals but I don't think I ever gave a pax brief to any of the DPE's or the FAA guy I took my CFI checkride with.
Guess I should have busted all those rides.
If I was the examiner and an applicant gave me the FA spiel I think it would be hard to keep a straight face. Be sure to remind them to keep the tray table in the upright and locked position for landing.

 

[tarp]

The mock FA announce is every bit a joke or hyperbole as Jim's "puke in the bag".

I do it once with newbies (PPL) so they get the message. The DE I send people to will evaluate that the candidate gives the briefing as per the FAR's. With Comm candidates, one of his favorite oral questions is what is "required" to be briefed to pax?

You want a tough call - A DE gets in the plane with a Comm candidate and sits on the seat belt. The PIC says "Sir you must fasten your seat belt. Are you familiar with the operation of the belt? " The DE says, "I'm familiar and I don't want to wear one". The Comm guy says, " but you have to, it says so in the regs". The DE says "No - let's go!" This was a test that a DE friend of mine tried on a Comm student I sent to him. The DE says that the Comm guy should have taxiied out for takeoff, the Comm guy says he didn't move because even though legal for the brief, he thought it would be "careless and reckless" to taxi knowing that the seat belt is clanking on the seat frame. So what are you going to teach your students? Here come the lawyers again!

As to passengers and other folks in the other seats in the plane, what do you have to think about:

91.11 - Interference
91.21(a)(2) - Electronic devices
91.105 - Crewmembers at station
91.107 - Safety Belts
91.205 - Equipment requirements
91.211 - Oxygen

So Jim, you have a very good VFR brief! If IFR, all you gotta add is "Shut off the Phone"!

 

[Booker]

So Jim, you have a very good VFR brief! If IFR, all you gotta add is "Shut off the Phone"!

Agreed. A minor point, though. I don't have the FCC CFR in front of me, but last I checked phones have to be off regardless of the rules the flight is conducted under.

 

[avbug]

As a student pilot, be sure to include in your brief to your passenger that they need to get out of the airplane before you fly, because you can't carry a passenger.

Student pilots carrying passengers typically begin their briefing with "Hey, watch this!"

 

[Snakum]

ROFLMAO!

 

[Immelman]

My pax brief:

Make sure their belts are on properly (tell them and then check).

Make sure they know when to touch the controls, instruments, door handle, or anything else (never, unless told other wise).

Make sure they know emergency procedures: how to brace for emergency landing, how to secure aircraft for emerg landing (door operation and stowing "projectiles" in a crash landing)

Make sure they shut up when something is on the radio or when I'm busy..

... last "make sure" is overriden by: SCAN FOR TRAFFIC! If you see an airplane getting close, make sure I know about it. I want to know about it. Introduce them to the concept of looking for aircraft, and that an airplane staying in one "spot" is bad news. Explain that all airplanes, even in controlled airspace, have a resopnsbility to look for traffic, and that I appreciate all pax' help on this.


the rest are optional things... explain what to expect for noises/sensations that they might not be familiar with... just things that are nice to do. Its also nice to explain where the plastic bags are, and that we don't have a lav in the Citabria.

 

[TXCAP4228]

Not that it will help you on your check ride, but after the first four or five times you take somebody flying (friends, family, whoever) and they start talking over ATC or the ATIS, or you have a little kid start flipping swithces - OR PULL THE BIG RED MIXTURE KNOB - you'll figure out what you need to include in the brief.

I liked Jim's.

Especially the barf bag part.

 

[ShawnC]

Belts: Wear it period

Controls: "See all these knobs, and switches? They are all mine don't touch."

Emergency Exit: "If you hear me say '0h $hit' and reaching for the door (or canopy release depending on the aircraft), I suggest you do the same."

Excrement: "If it comes out of your body, you have to clean it up."

But seriously. I just explain it before I start the engine, just tell them the basics, you don't have to go though every detail because most people have been on enough airplanes to know what they have to do.