What briefings do student pilots learn?
Student pilots learn five standard briefings, and each one happens at a specific point in the flight. A briefing is not paperwork: it is something you say out loud, either to your passengers or to the other pilot, so that everyone knows the plan before the workload gets high. The habit comes straight from the airlines, where crews brief every departure and every approach on every flight. The five briefings, in flight order:
| Briefing | When it happens | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger briefing | Before engine start | Safety items you tell your passengers, using the SAFEST acronym. |
| Abort plan briefing | Before every takeoff | What you will do if the engine fails, keyed to how much runway is left ahead. |
| Pre-maneuver safety flow | Before practice maneuvers | Seven checks that make the practice area safe for stalls, slow flight, and steep turns. |
| Arrival briefing | Before returning to the airport | How the approach and landing will be set up. |
| Approach briefing | Before every instrument approach | The approach chart, spoken aloud: frequencies, courses, altitudes, and the missed approach. |
What do you say in a passenger briefing?
The passenger briefing is something you say out loud to your passengers before every flight, before the engine starts. Work down the list one item at a time. The left column is the item; the right column is what you actually tell them. The first six items spell SAFEST so they are easy to remember.
SAFEST: items 1–6
| Item | What you tell your passengers |
|---|---|
| Seats & seat belts | “Adjust your seat, then fasten the lap belt and shoulder harness. Please keep them on for the whole flight.” |
| Air vents & courtesy lights | “Here are the fresh-air vents and reading lights, and this is how they work.” |
| Fire extinguisher | “The fire extinguisher is here. To use it, pull the pin and aim at the base of the flames.” |
| Emergencies & exits | “This is how the doors and windows open, this is the exit you would use, and this is where we regroup after getting clear of the airplane.” |
| Sterile cockpit | “Please stay quiet during taxi, takeoff, and landing. If I raise my hand, hold your questions for a moment.” |
| Traffic | “Help me look for other aircraft and call them out by clock position: 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock.” |
Cockpit & command: items 7–12
| Item | What you tell your passengers |
|---|---|
| Flight controls & rudder pedals | “These are the flight controls and rudder pedals. Please keep your hands and feet clear of them unless I invite you to fly.” |
| Personal comfort | “Here is the cabin heat, water, and air-sickness bags. Speak up early if you start to feel unwell.” |
| External factors | “Expect engine noise, headset use, normal bumps and turbulence, and radio chatter.” |
| Positive exchange of flight controls | “If you touch the controls, we use the three-step handoff: you have the controls, I have the controls, you have the controls.” |
| Pilot-In-Command (PIC) | “I am in command and make the final call. Please follow the crew’s instructions.” |
| Any questions? | “Any questions before I start the engine?” |
The passenger briefing is also covered in what to expect at your first airplane lesson, where it fits into the full flow of a training flight.
What do you say in an abort plan briefing?
Before every takeoff, you brief the abort plan out loud: what you will do if the engine fails or anything abnormal happens during the departure. In a small training airplane the plan is keyed to one simple question, is there runway remaining ahead? The briefing is specific to the runway you are using: turn direction depends on wind, terrain, and obstructions, and an alternate airport is always identified. Whatever happens, your first job is to fly the airplane: keep positive control before restarts, radio calls, or checklists, and switch the fuel and engine off just before touchdown.
| Phase | What you say |
|---|---|
| On the runway (takeoff roll) | “If anything doesn’t look right or we have an engine failure, I’ll maintain directional control, close the throttle, and bring the airplane to a stop.” |
| Airborne, runway remaining ahead | “If we’re airborne with runway remaining ahead, I’ll close the throttle and land on the remaining runway.” |
| Airborne, no runway remaining, below pattern altitude | “If there’s no runway remaining and we’re below pattern altitude, I’ll pitch for best glide and land straight ahead with minimum turning, at the most suitable landing area.” |
| At or above pattern altitude | “At or above pattern altitude, I may turn back into the wind and come back to the airport, but only if I briefed it and trained it in this airplane and I’m certain I can make the field. Otherwise I’ll land at a suitable landing area.” |
The turn back to the airport is known as “the impossible turn”: an advanced, airplane-specific maneuver that is not appropriate for student or low-time pilots. When it is flown, the turn is made into the wind, usually toward the crosswind side, so the wind drifts the airplane back toward the runway (FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, Chapter 18). Read more about abort plan briefings and how flight schools teach them.
What is the pre-maneuver safety flow?
Before any practice maneuver, in the simulator or in the airplane, pilots complete a pre-maneuver safety flow. It is standard at most flight schools and works like every other checklist: verbalize the checklist name, complete the items from memory, verify with the written checklist, and verbalize “complete.” Seven items:
| Item | What you check |
|---|---|
| Fuel | Fuel selector on BOTH tanks. |
| Mixture | Set to RICH, or leaned for altitude above 5,000 feet. |
| Seatbelts & switches | Seatbelts fastened; switches and lights set. |
| Radios | Tuned to the best frequencies for the practice area. |
| Altitude | Confirmed safe for the planned maneuver. |
| Clearing turns | Minimum 180 degrees of turn to check for traffic. |
| Emergency field | A landing field identified within glide range. |
Clearing turns ensure the practice area is clear of other traffic. If traffic is detected during a maneuver, abort immediately and maintain visual separation. In the practice areas near Republic Airport (KFRG), where parachute operations and glider traffic share the airspace, this discipline is non-negotiable. Learn more about practice area safety procedures.
What do you brief before returning to the airport?
Before heading back, you brief the arrival out loud so the approach is set up in your head before you enter the traffic pattern, when the workload is still low.
| Item | What you brief |
|---|---|
| Traffic pattern altitude | Typically 1,000 feet above the ground (AGL). |
| Landing runway | The runway number in use. |
| Landing distance available | How much runway you have to land and stop. |
| Crosswind component | Wind direction and strength across the runway, in knots. |
How do you brief an instrument approach?
Instrument pilots brief every approach out loud before flying it, even when flying alone: the chart, the frequencies, the final approach course, the stepdown altitudes, the minimums, and the missed approach procedure. The briefing follows the layout of the chart itself, so the format depends on which charts you fly with. We have a full verbatim guide for each format: how to brief an instrument approach using FAA charts and how to brief a Jeppesen approach plate. Both follow the same airline-style discipline you practice in the simulator from your first instrument lesson.
What emergency procedures can't be practiced in an airplane?
Partial panel and glass cockpit failures: Most flight schools prohibit pulling circuit breakers on G1000 or equivalent glass cockpit aircraft to simulate instrument failures. Glass cockpit systems are integrated — the primary flight display, multi-function display, engine instruments, and navigation all share electrical buses. Pulling one breaker can cascade failures to other critical systems that may not reset in flight.
Engine failure during takeoff: Professional flight schools brief an abort plan before every takeoff: what to do on the runway, airborne with runway remaining ahead, airborne with no runway remaining below pattern altitude, and at or above pattern altitude. But you can only brief the response. Actually cutting the engine during a student's takeoff would create a genuinely dangerous situation.
Electrical system failures: In the airplane, all partial panel instrument maneuvers must be performed in VMC with at least 5 statute miles visibility. No partial panel practice at night. These restrictions exist for safety but significantly limit when and how often you can train for the scenarios that matter most.
Spin entry and recovery: Most flight schools require a spin-certified airplane (typically a Cessna 152), dual flights only, entry altitude of 6,000 feet AGL or higher, and instructor and manager approval. Recovery must be complete within two full turns. These restrictions mean spin training is rare, scheduled weeks in advance, and limited to a handful of sessions.
Why do flight schools prohibit pulling circuit breakers?
Glass cockpit systems like the Garmin G1000, G3000, and Perspective+ are deeply integrated. The primary flight display, multi-function display, engine monitoring, transponder, GPS, and communication radios share electrical buses and data networks. When you pull a circuit breaker in the airplane, you might not just lose one display — you could affect transponder output, GPS navigation, or radio communication.
There is also the risk of the breaker not resetting in flight. A circuit breaker that trips and refuses to reset is a real emergency — not a training exercise. The FAA Airplane Flying Handbook acknowledges that advanced avionics failures are best practiced in simulation environments where incorrect responses don't put lives at risk.
How do simulators solve the emergency training problem?
At Aviator NYC, Stage 2 of the PPL curriculum (Lessons 7-9) is entirely dedicated to systems and emergencies: engine failure in flight, engine failure during takeoff, and abnormal operations including slow flight, stalls, and spin avoidance. These are the scenarios that most flight schools restrict in the airplane — but you practice them to completion in every simulator session.
Stage 4 (Lessons 13-15) covers G1000 proficiency including G1000 abnormal procedures — practicing the exact instrument failure scenarios that are prohibited to simulate in the airplane. You learn what happens when the PFD fails, when engine instruments go dark, when you lose GPS — and how to respond using backup instruments and procedures.
The simulator removes every restriction that limits emergency training in the airplane: no weather requirements (practice partial panel in simulated IMC), no altitude minimums (engine failure at any phase of flight), no special aircraft (every session uses the same G1000 NXi cockpit), and unlimited repetition (the same scenario can be practiced until the student masters the correct response). You can explore the complete PPL curriculum to see how emergency training fits into the lesson progression.
What about IFR approach practice?
Practicing instrument approaches in the airplane requires coordination that adds cost and complexity. You need a safety pilot in the right seat who agrees to act as pilot-in-command while you fly under a view limiting device (hood or foggles). Both pilots must clearly establish PIC responsibilities before departure — if the safety pilot declines PIC responsibility, the approach practice flight is not authorized.
In Aviator NYC's simulator, you fly the same ILS, VOR, and RNAV/GPS approaches to Republic Airport (KFRG), Morristown Airport (KMMU), and other northeast corridor airports — using real published approach plates and real-world frequencies. Every approach starts with the same approach briefing you would fly with in the airplane, whether you brief from FAA charts or Jeppesen plates. No safety pilot coordination, no view limiting devices, no VMC requirements.
Aviator NYC offers 25 LOFT (Line Oriented Flight Training) scenarios with real approach data from local airports. These scenarios replicate actual instrument procedures that pilots fly in the region, including the approach environment, missed approach procedures, and ATC communication. Explore the full LOFT scenario library to see what approaches are available.
At non-towered airports, instrument approach practice requires continuous position reports on the CTAF — advising distance and altitude — and the decision to break off the approach if pattern traffic conflicts. In the simulator, you build this communication discipline without the pressure of real traffic.