The B-17 prototype, known as the Model 299, crashed on October 30, 1935, at Wright Airfield in Ohio, killing two of the five crew members on board, including the pilot
A preflight checklist in aviation is a list of duties that pilots and other crew members must complete before takeoff. Its goal is to increase flight safety by making sure that no crucial activities are overlooked. A major contributing factor in aviation accidents is improper preflight inspection employing a checklist.
When did pilots start using preflight checklists?
Boeing’s website states that the turning point that resulted in the innovation of employing a formal checklist happened in 1935.
Three companies were competing for the contract to produce the Army Air Corps’ next-generation long-range bomber: Boeing with the Model 299, Glenn L. Martin Co. with the Martin 146, and Douglas Aircraft Co. with the Douglas DB-1. More payload was carried by the 299 than by either of the other two entries, and it flew faster and farther. The cutting-edge, complex Boeing four-engine aircraft was acknowledged as the winner. Once the formalities of an official flying demonstration were finished, the Army had already intended to order at least 65 of Boeing’s aircraft.
The Model 299 took off, climbed to 300 feet, stalled, and crashed on October 30, 1935, at Wright Airfield in Ohio, killing two of the five crew members on board, including the pilot. The crash was caused by a pilot error, according to an investigation. The pilot neglected to release a new locking mechanism on the elevator controls while tending to the aircraft’s numerous switches and controls. The Model 299 was deemed “too complex to fly” by critics.
Although Boeing first lost the contract, several people persisted in their belief that the aircraft could be flown safely. A team of Boeing test pilots and engineers came up with a straightforward strategy: they produced a pilot’s checklist containing important action checks for takeoff, landing, and taxi. They held the opinion that this aircraft was not too complicated to fly, but too sophisticated to be left to the pilot’s memory.
Boeing was able to build and test an additional 12 Model 299 aircraft because of a technicality in the selection procedure. Using the checklist, Boeing and Air Corps pilots flew the first 12 aircraft 1.8 million miles without having an accident. The B-17 bomber, which the Army ultimately ordered in nearly 13,000 units, gave the Allies an air advantage during World War II and helped in the operation of a devastating bombing campaign across Nazi Germany.
All Boeing fleet pilots, all military pilots, and soon commercial pilots had to use the checklist as a permanent and required tool for both military and soon after in commercial aviation.
Photo by Boeing and U.S. Air Force