FAA · Information for Operators (InFO)
InFO 08034: Design and Content of Checklists for In-Flight Smoke, Fire and Fumes (SFF)
In Brief
What It Addresses
To make known a philosophy and a template for use in designing checklists for flightcrews in response to evidence of a fire in the absence of a cockpit alert.
Why It Matters
Events of in-flight SFF often provide inconclusive or ambiguous cues to flightcrews (pilots and flight engineers), sometimes with no alert displayed in the cockpit; yet prompt and decisive action by them may be critical, including immediate diversion and landing. A collaborative group of industry specialists came together as the SFF Project.
Recommended Action
Directors of safety, directors of operations, chief pilots, fractional ownership program managers, trainers of flightcrews, and pilots and flight engineers themselves should be aware of these products and should consider collaborating to apply them to their own checklists, operations and training. Approved by: AFS-200 OPR: AFS-210, AFS-220
From the Document: selected source passages, quoted as written, for a quick overview.
InFOInformation for Operators
U.S. Department InFO 08034
of Transportation DATE: 5/27/08
Federal Aviation
Administration Flight Standards Service
Washington, DC http://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/info An InFO contains valuable information for operators that should help them meet certain administrative, regulatory, or operational requirements with relatively low urgency or impact on safety.
Subject: Design and Content of Checklists for In-Flight Smoke, Fire and Fumes (SFF)
Purpose: To make known a philosophy and a template for use in designing checklists for flightcrews in response to evidence of a fire in the absence of a cockpit alert.
Background: Events of in-flight SFF often provide inconclusive or ambiguous cues to flightcrews (pilots and flight engineers), sometimes with no alert displayed in the cockpit; yet prompt and decisive action by them may be critical, including immediate diversion and landing. A collaborative group of industry specialists came together as the SFF Project. That group represented aircraft manufacturers, air carriers, professional pilot associations and others. The NTSB and the FAA contributed to the project.
Discussion: That collaboration has produced two products that may help guide designers of checklists for flightcrew response to SFF. The first is a template to be used when developing a non-alerted SFF checklist. The second is a description of the philosophy upon which the template is founded, together with concepts and definition of terms. Both products are available to the public free of charge at the following public website maintained by the Flight Safety Foundation:
www.flightsafety.org/fsd/fsd_june05.pdf
(See pages 31-36) It is important to note that the template is not, in and of itself, a checklist. It is a framework to guide checklist design and content depending on variables such as manufacturer, specific equipment installed, and airline corporate culture.
Recommended Action: Directors of safety, directors of operations, chief pilots, fractional ownership program managers, trainers of flightcrews, and pilots and flight engineers themselves should be aware of these products and should consider collaborating to apply them to their own checklists, operations and training.
Approved by: AFS-200 OPR: AFS-210, AFS-220
Source: Federal Aviation Administration — www.faa.gov. Reproduced from the published record; FlightPush adds formatting only.
InFO 08034