Flight Safety Foundation has prepared a new safety aid called the Functional Check Flight Compendium.
It isn’t only pilots who are subjected to check rides. Aircraft are, too. Functional check flights (FCFs) are typically performed after heavy maintenance or transfer to a new owner or lessor. Their purpose is to make sure that everything on the aircraft works as it should.
FCFs involve risks beyond those of ordinary line flying. Some checks involve shutting down a necessary system in flight to see if it can be restored. These flights test backup on seldom-used systems or functions and involve procedures normally not used in line operations.
For example, in January 2009, a Boeing 737 was undergoing an elevator power–off flight test west of Norwich, Norfolk, England. “During the check, the aircraft pitched rapidly nose down, descending approximately 9,000 ft before control was recovered,” said the report by the U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch. “A number of m…
