MentorLIVE: The Briefing At Most Flight Schools Is Broken. Is Yours?
August 19 @ 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm
The Briefing At Most Flight Schools Is Broken. Is Yours?
Presenter: Brandon Williams
Host: Karen Kalishek
WINGS Credit
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Description
The Debrief Is Broken at Most Flight Schools. Is Yours? examines why one of aviation training’s most valuable learning tools is often rushed, vague, inconsistent, or skipped all together sometimes. Designed for CFIs, flight school owners, chief pilots, and pilots, this presentation explores the barriers that prevent meaningful debriefing and the consequences: repeated errors, slower student progression, inconsistent standards, weak instructor accountability, poor flight school and instructor reputation, and an unreliable safety culture.
Participants will learn how to replace blame and assumptions with psychological safety, truth-based performance review, human-factors analysis, root-cause identification, and specific actions for the next flight. Based on the fighter pilot debrief, Brandon developed the practical **SEAL Framework—Set the Tone, Execution, Analysis, and Learning—**the session equips instructors to lead more effective debriefs, helps students take greater ownership of their performance, and gives flight school leaders a repeatable process for improving instructional consistency, checkride readiness, CFI accountability and organizational learning.
Presenter Bio
Brandon Williams is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, seasoned Airline Captain, Air Force Instructor Pilot, and former U.S. Air Force F-15E Fighter Pilot, Lieutenant Colonel, and Aviation Safety Officer. In addition to traveling around the country speaking to flight schools and other high reliability teams, he teaches at several aviation universities as an aviation safety and human factors professor, and also serves as a Line Check Pilot at a major U.S. airline, where he evaluates, mentors, and standardizes pilot performance in high-consequence operating environments.
With over two decades of experience training, evaluating, and leading aviators across military, airline, and academic aviation, Brandon brings a unique blend of aviation science, human factors, and real-world instructional leadership. His work bridges operational reality with research-backed human performance principles to help instructors move beyond rote task completion and toward professional-grade instruction.
As a human factors and aviation safety expert, Brandon equips instructors and leaders with practical tools to reduce human error, improve decision-making, and reinforce accountability through clear intent, disciplined briefing and debriefing, and ownership without blame—building safer, more consistent, high-reliability training environments.
Host Bio
Karen Kalishek is a Designated Pilot Examiner, four-time NAFI Master Instructor, and an FAA Gold Seal Instructor with CFI, CFII, MEI, CFI-G, AGI, IGI credentials. She holds an ATP certificate with ASES and Glider Commercial privileges. In 2019, she was named National FAASTeam Representative of the Year.
Karen is actively involved in multiple aviation organizations and serves as a Major in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), acting as a flight instructor, check pilot, examiner, mission pilot, and cadet orientation pilot. She has a passion for antique aircraft and enjoys flying her RV-6. Before becoming a full-time instructor, Karen had a career in banking and international consulting, providing services in 37 countries.
This MentorLIVE presentation is sponsored by Lightspeed.
