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.

This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2018)

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]

It is common to see key rings, T-shirts, bag tags, belts and other such products with this ribbon, especially for people who work in aviation or are aviation enthusiasts.^{[citation needed]}

A green tag is sometimes used to identify components that must be attached before flight in a similar way to remove before flight components.^{[citation needed]}

References

See also

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

•  Aviation portal
• Red tag
• Mind the gap

This article about aircraft components is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e