A remove before flight ribbon on Concorde landing gear

A remove before flight keychain

Remove before flight is a safety warning often seen on removable aircraft and spacecraft components, typically in the form of a red ribbon, to indicate that a device, such as a protective cover or a pin to prevent the movement of mechanical parts, is only used when the aircraft is on the ground (parked or taxiing). On small general aviation aircraft, this may include a pitot tube cover or a control lock. The warning appears in English only. Other ribbons labelled "pull to arm" or similar are found on missiles and other weapon systems that are not mounted on aircraft.

Remove-before-flight components are often referred to as "red tag items". Typically, the ground crew will have a checklist of remove-before-flight items. Some checklists will require the ribbon or tag to be attached to the checklist to verify it has been removed. Non-removal of a labelled part has caused airplane crashes, like that of Aeroperú Flight 603 and, in 1975, a Royal Nepal Airlines Pilatus PC-6 Porter carrying the wife and daughter of Sir Edmund Hillary.^[1]

Red tag items

Red tag items typically include:

• Landing gear pins
• Intake/Inlet blanks
• Ejector seat pins
• Pitot tube covers

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Remove before flight safety warnings.

•  Aviation portal
• Index of aviation articles
• Red tag
• Mind the gap
• Gust lock
• Lists of aviation topics
• List of aviation, avionics, aerospace and aeronautical abbreviations

References