Definition
Structured discussions held after a flight in which the instructor and student review what occurred during the lesson, evaluate performance against the lesson objectives, identify areas needing improvement, and outline the focus of the next session.
Plain English
A sit-down conversation right after a training flight where the instructor and student talk through how the flight went, what was learned, what needs more work, and what to do next time.
Context Anchor
Used in flight training after a lesson flight, ground activity, or practice session, especially when the instructor is helping the student learn from what just happened.
Derivation
From 'post-' (Latin, meaning 'after') and 'flight' combined with 'briefing' (originally a short military term for giving instructions before or after a mission). Together it simply means 'the talk that happens after the flight.'
Why Pilots Care
Allows the student to consolidate learning from the just-completed flight while details are fresh and prevents small mistakes from becoming habits.
Intuition Check
Do not read “briefing” here as a casual chat or a quick goodbye. A postflight briefing is a purposeful review after the flight, aimed at understanding performance and deciding what comes next.
Example Sentence 1
After shutdown, the instructor walked the student through a postflight briefing, going over each maneuver and noting which ones met the standard.
Example Sentence 2
After the lesson the student reviewed the postflight briefing notes to prepare for the upcoming solo flight.