Line-oriented flight training
LOFT is full-mission, real-time simulation of scenarios representative of line operations. The crew flies a complete trip-like problem, not a disconnected manoeuvre list. LOFT is the ancestor and still the practical template for the line-oriented phases of EBT. Its purpose is flight safety through better crew performance: classroom CRM builds awareness; LOFT makes crews apply the principles under line-like conditions.
Design rules that make it LOFT
| Rule | Why it exists |
|---|---|
| Treat the box as the aircraft | Attitude and procedure discipline transfer only if the crew plays it real |
| Non-jeopardy training; no pass/fail | Stops image management; errors become learning data |
| Mistakes are normal; detection and coping matter | Reframe error as training substance |
| Real time; no freeze, slew, or speed-up | Preserves realistic workload and decision timing |
| No single right outcome | Open-ended decisions with multiple acceptable paths |
| Instructor operates, observes, role-plays external parties | No mid-session coaching; ATC/cabin/company played in |
| Video for debrief; default erase | Playback aids self-analysis; long retention destroys trust |
| De-identified programme records | Aggregate improvement without naming crews |
Break any of these and the session drifts toward a check or a manoeuvre block with LOFT branding.
Brief and debrief contract
Brief answers: Why am I here? What is different about LOFT? What can I expect? Cover reasons for LOFT, the CRM theme shared with recurrent modules, conduct rules, instructor role, video, and debrief shape.
Debrief introduction ("brief the debrief") resets:
- Trainees develop the agenda and talk to each other.
- Focus on CRM skills used or available.
- Analyse what happened and what they did; evaluate outcomes; discuss what they would do differently and why.
- Instructor assists agenda, facilitates, resources CRM/technical points, keeps discussion trainee-centred, and ensures objectives are met.
- Confidentiality and non-jeopardy restated.
Deep facilitation technique lives in the FSF/NASA line-oriented simulation (LOS) debriefing material (Appendix 1) and the C-A-L model. EBT recurrent debriefs add a structured 9-step sequence (prepare, announce outcome, cite low grades, open discussion, what went well / improve, crew themes from root-cause analysis, summarise learning) without abandoning LOFT's crew-centred philosophy.
LOFT versus EBT phases
Doc 9995 separates:
- Evaluation / scenario phases: line-oriented scenarios (LOFT-style) for competency assessment and TEM development.
- Manoeuvres training: not LOFT-style; reposition and coach for psychomotor skill.
Do not run manoeuvres training with LOFT rules, and do not freeze-reposition through an evaluation scenario unless intervention is required. LOFT remains the mental model for "fly the line in the box."
Instructor use
- Invest brief time in non-jeopardy and role clarity; restate mid-session if trainees start apologising for learning errors.
- Stay silent as coach during the scenario; role-play external agents convincingly.
- After the session, take five minutes to structure themes before debrief; do not free-associate from memory alone.
- Cap learning points; facilitate 2–3 high-leverage outcomes rather than a full timeline lecture.
- Erase video by default; use Risk Management Model and TEM language to structure crew analysis.
Connections
- Crew resource management. What LOFT is built to practice.
- Threat and error management. What line-oriented scenarios exercise.
- Flight simulation training device. The medium LOFT runs on.
- Just culture. Non-jeopardy, confidentiality, and video discipline.
- Facilitation. Default debrief method.
- Questioning technique. Debrief craft that keeps LOFT non-jeopardy and crew-centred.
- C-A-L model. CRM–Analysis–Line structure for LOS debriefs.
- Human behaviour in flight training. Climate and stress that decide whether LOFT learning lands.
- Evidence-based training. Line-oriented phases inherit LOFT DNA.
- Fault analysis. Root-cause themes for debrief outcomes.
- Risk management model. Debrief scaffold for situation analysis.
- Pilot flying and pilot monitoring. Both roles must be exercised in line-oriented assessment.
Sources
- 6.7 LOFT Briefing - Suggested Format and Contents. LOFT brief format, non-jeopardy, real time, instructor roles, video.
- 7.5 LOFT Debriefing - Introduction. Brief the debrief; roles; EBT 9-step cross-reference.
- A1.1 Foreword and Introduction. FSF/NASA LOS facilitation depth.
- Doc 9995, Glossary. Line-oriented flight scenario definition.
- Doc 9995, Part I Ch 7 (Conduct of evidence-based training). EVAL/SBT line-oriented vs MT non-LOFT; video delete rule.
- Doc 9995, Part II Ch 1. MT explicitly not LOFT-style.