Background

This briefing note discusses the concept of the sterile flight deck and its underlying elements of discipline, communication, decision making and judgment. Every pilot should understand the basic concept because it is a personal quality that can profoundly impact flight safety.

Introduction

When flight crews are not concentrating their attention on the conduct of flight activities or are involved in actions that are totally unrelated to flying, critical information can be missed or misinterpreted. The situation can degenerate very rapidly. In order to prevent those consequences, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) enacted regulations in 1981 that prohibited crews from performing non-essential activities during taxiing, take-off and landing, and below 10,000 feet except in cruise flight. Known as the “sterile cockpit rule,” the regulation helped to define clearly when the crew shall concentrate on the most important task: safely operating the aircraft.