Plain English Meaning

A talk after the flight where the instructor and student go over how the flight went, what was learned, what needs more work, and what comes next.

Full Definition

A structured discussion held after a training flight in which the instructor and learner review what occurred during the flight, evaluate performance against the lesson's objectives, identify what was done well, address errors or weak areas, and agree on priorities for the next lesson.

Context Anchor

Used in flight training after the aircraft is parked and shut down, before the lesson is considered complete.

Derivation

‘Debriefing’ comes from the military practice of ‘briefing’ a crew before a and ‘debriefing’ them afterward to gather information and review the operation. ‘Post’ is Latin for ‘after.’ So a postflight debriefing is simply the structured review held after the flight is complete.