There's a length past which pilots quietly stop using a checklist. They start it, get interrupted, and never come back, and now they're trusting a list they didn't finish. A checklist that's too long doesn't make you safer. It trains you to abandon checklists.
How to cut without losing protection
- Move anything that's "set it once and leave it" into a flow or a separate, pre-flight expanded checklist.
- Combine related items a pilot always does together into one line.
- Keep killer items. Cut convenience items first.
- Use phase-specific short lists (BEFORE TAKEOFF, BEFORE LANDING) instead of one giant scroll.
A handy rule of thumb: if your BEFORE LANDING list doesn't fit on one card or one screen without scrolling, it's too long for the phase of flight where you have the least attention to spare.