Recurrent training at 12 years: what the annual check actually tests, how senior crew prepare and why the fire and the doors never stop being examined

Qantas international, Melbourne, eight years, and the recurrent training thread on here is a question from a first year. This is the answer from the other end: what recurrent is at eight years and what the twelve and twenty year crew I fly with say about it.

What recurrent is

An annual (at some airlines and regulators, more frequent for some elements) return to the training centre for a day or two to re examine the safety competencies: the doors and slides on every type you fly, the fire fighting, the first aid and CPR, the security, the dangerous goods, the emergency procedures, and a written exam on all of it. Under CASA, EASA, the FAA and the Gulf regulators the elements are similar and the intervals differ slightly.

What it actually tests

Whether you can still do the drill under observation, fast and correct, on every type. Whether you still know the numbers. Whether the CPR is still to the standard (the manikins record it). Whether the fire fighting sequence is still automatic in the smoke. And whether your knowledge has drifted from the current manual, which changes every year.

Why it never stops

Because the skills decay. A crew member who has not opened a door in emergency mode for a year will hesitate. A crew member who has not done CPR for a year will be slow. The recurrent puts the skills back to the standard annually, and the crew who think of it as a chore are the ones who hesitate at the door when it matters. Twenty year crew treat it with more seriousness than five year crew, because they have seen what the drift does.

How senior crew prepare

The week before: read the manual updates (the changes since last year are the exam questions). Practise the drill commands out loud in the car. Review the medical kit contents and the CPR ratios. Do the door drill in the head on every type. The senior crew who fail recurrent (it happens, rarely) are the ones who assumed experience was preparation.

The resit

A failed element is resat, usually the same day or within a short period, and a failed resit removes you from flying until you pass. The consequences are real and the trainers are fair. Twelve years of clean recurrents is a record the airline notices.

The other thing recurrent is

The reunion. At a big airline, recurrent is where you see the crew you trained with, the ones you have not flown with in years. The classroom at recurrent is a small airline of your era. The senior crew look forward to it for that reason and admit it privately.

For new crew

The first recurrent is a shock because the skills have drifted and you did not know. Prepare for it like an exam. After that, the rhythm settles and it becomes the annual test of whether you are still the crew member you were trained to be. Most of us are. The recurrent is how we know.