Definition
In an instructional setting, an interruption is an event that breaks the continuity of a lesson, briefing, or task by requiring the instructor's or student's attention to shift away from the primary activity, after which the original activity is intended to be resumed.
Plain English
Something that stops what you were doing and pulls your attention elsewhere, with the expectation that you'll come back to the original task afterward.
Context Anchor
Seen in flight training, checklist use, radio communication, and any cockpit task where attention is pulled away before the task is complete.
Derivation
From Latin 'interrumpere,' meaning 'to break between' (inter = between, rumpere = to break). The word literally describes something breaking into the middle of an ongoing activity, which is exactly its operational meaning here.
Why Pilots Care
Unmanaged interruptions during checklists or maneuvers commonly cause missed steps and procedural errors that affect safety.
Grounding Statement
If a radio call makes you pause a checklist, the checklist has been interrupted until you return to the exact place you stopped.
Intuition Check
Do not treat an interruption as just a minor annoyance. In flying, an interruption means the original task was broken and must be intentionally resumed.
Example Sentence 1
When the radio call interrupted the pre-takeoff briefing, the instructor paused, handled the transmission, and then restarted the briefing from the beginning to make sure no item was missed.
Example Sentence 2
After the interruption from a passing aircraft on the ramp, the student returned to the fuel-check step to avoid skipping it.