A Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) is a quick-access manual for

aircraft pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

s that contains all the procedures applicable for non-normal and emergency conditions in an easy-to-use format. Performance data corrections are also provided for specific conditions. A QRH is kept in the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

and can be consulted whenever the

flight crew Aircrew are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose. Commercial aviation Flight deck positions In commercial aviation, ...

experiences in-flight problems.

Format

The first QRHs in the 20th century were made out of paper, but in the 21st century, many pilots have switched to so-called

electronic flight bag An electronic flight bag (EFB) is an electronic information management device that helps flight crews perform flight management tasks more easily and efficiently with less paper providing the reference material often found in the pilot's carry-o ...

s (EFB), which have the advantage of electronic search functions, but require electricity to work. Some modern aircraft such as the

Airbus A350 The Airbus A350 is a flight length, long-range, wide-body twin-engine airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The initial A350 design proposed in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the Airbu ...

, and

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...

, have computerised some of the checklists with their own integrated EFB. However, pilots still are required to have their own EFB as an added redundency as not all procedures and use cases will display the correct checklists, due to some problems being unable to be correctly identified or diagnosed by the onboard aircraft computers. Thus, the Quick Reference Handbook remains an essential in-flight tool for the crew.

QRH includes various

checklist A checklist is a type of job aid used in repetitive tasks to reduce failure by compensating for potential limits of human memory and attention. Checklists are used both to ensure that safety-critical system preparations are carried out completely ...

s for dealing with abnormal and emergency situations, based on the equipment and furnishings on the

airplane An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...

. The

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

-designated checklists are always included in a QRH, and often the

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

company or operator will include its own procedures. Therefore, there is no single universal QRH and they may differ widely in contents, but in practice, individual versions of it are referred to as ''the'' Quick Reference Handbook. When designed and used correctly to address issues such as

turbine engine failure A turbine engine failure occurs when a gas turbine engine unexpectedly stops producing power due to a malfunction other than fuel exhaustion. It often applies for aircraft, but other turbine engines can also fail, such as ground-based turbine ...

s or on-board fires, a QRH can prevent

aviation accidents and incidents An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...

. QRH have to include time-critical information and frequently used information for the flight crew. One example of a checklist in a QRH is the Engine Failure/Fire – Severe Damage or Separation checklist. Another example is the Cabin Altitude Warning or Rapid Depressurization checklist.

References

{{Reflist Aviation-related lists Aviation safety Checklists Emergency aircraft operations Aviation publications

Format

Contents

See also

References