WHY NOT DEBRIEF?

After every mission military pilots and their crew will hold a debrief to discuss want went well and what could have been done better. This is an opportunity for those involved in the task to recognise superior performance and to learn by addressing any deficiencies – makes sense right?

However, post-flight debriefs in commercial aviation are quite rare, in spite of the obvious potential value. In many regulatory jurisdictions pilots and cabin crew are only considered to be ‘on duty’ until 30 minutes after ‘on-chocks’ time so there is a limited window of opportunity. Furthermore, the crew for the next scheduled flight will frequently be waiting to get on board to maximise preparation time during the short turnaround period. Perhaps most influential is the fact that it isn’t ‘the way we do things around here’ – it’s not part of the culture.

A pilot would think nothing of remarking on a colleague’s smooth landing in difficult crosswind conditions for example but there is unlikely to be much discussion about it if it went less well. The absence of a debrief effectively implies that the entire flight proceeded satisfactorily and in accordance with standard operating procedures: there were no errors, deviations, distractions and consequently no opportunities to learn. Any pilot knows that is never the case but without a professional conversation immediately afterwards, the implication becomes reinforced.

Pilots are well used to debriefs after training flights so why not after every flight?