Why October 30?
On October 30, 1935 a mishap happened — an airplane crash — that led to the use of checklists by pilots. A prototype for the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress crashed during takeoff at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. The cause of the crash was a gust lock that was still engaged. After the crash, a group of pilots looked for a way to present “pilot error” mishaps.
Checklists were the answer. The pilots developed checklists for takeoff, in-flight, pre-landing, and post-landing.
Boeing then delivered 12 Flying Fortresses that flew 1.8 million miles with no mishaps.
Checklists Day — explained by it’s sponsor Checklists.com
“Checklists Day is an opportunity to appreciate the value of using checklists to help avoid tragedy and disappointments and to take advantage of opportunities. Checklists are a great way to take care of things so that you’ll have peace of mind. They are a perfect place to add a note about something you don’t want to forget the next time you do something.”
Their website has many examples of checklists — for health, home, people, travel, fun, money.
There’s even a Checklist for Checklists.
Checklist Manifesto — a great book praising checklists
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
Dull Men like checklists. This book explains the virtues of checklists. Click here to get to this book in our aStore.
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