A computer-implemented system for providing checklists on an aircraft, the system comprising: a controller in onboard avionics equipment, the controller configured by programming instructions to: encode, in an optical code, information pertaining to an aircraft alert message displayed on a cockpit display, wherein the optical code when decoded identifies the information pertaining to the displayed aircraft alert message; cause a graphical element to be displayed that indicates that the optical code encoded with the information pertaining to the aircraft alert message is available for display; and responsive to a selection of the graphical element, cause the optical code to be displayed in a dialog window; and a mobile device comprising a mobile device controller configured by programming instructions to: capture, using an optical code reader, a visual image of the displayed optical code; decode, using the visual image, the optical code to identify the information pertaining to the displayed aircraft alert message; retrieve a checklist containing instructions for responding in view of the information pertaining to the displayed aircraft alert message, wherein the checklist is retrieved from a data store on the mobile device or from a cloud-based data store; and cause the checklist to be displayed on a display on the mobile device. a controller in onboard avionics equipment, the controller configured by programming instructions to: encode, in an optical code, information pertaining to an aircraft alert message displayed on a cockpit display, wherein the optical code when decoded identifies the information pertaining to the displayed aircraft alert message; cause a graphical element to be displayed that indicates that the optical code encoded with the information pertaining to the aircraft alert message is available for display; and responsive to a selection of the graphical element, cause the optical code to be displayed in a dialog window; and encode, in an optical code, information pertaining to an aircraft alert message displayed on a cockpit display, wherein the optical code when decoded identifies the information pertaining to the displayed aircraft alert message; cause a graphical element to be displayed that indicates that the optical code encoded with the information pertaining to the aircraft alert message is available for display; and responsive to a selection of the graphical element, cause the optical code to be displayed in a dialog window; and a mobile device comprising a mobile device controller configured by programming instructions to: capture, using an optical code reader, a visual image of the displayed optical code; decode, using the visual image, the optical code to identify the information pertaining to the displayed aircraft alert message; retrieve a checklist containing instructions for responding in view of the information pertaining to the displayed aircraft alert message, wherein the checklist is retrieved from a data store on the mobile device or from a cloud-based data store; and cause the checklist to be displayed on a display on the mobile device. capture, using an optical code reader, a visual image of the displayed optical code; decode, using the visual image, the optical code to identify the information pertaining to the displayed aircraft alert message; retrieve a checklist containing instructions for responding in view of the information pertaining to the displayed aircraft alert message, wherein the checklist is retrieved from a data store on the mobile device or from a cloud-based data store; and cause the checklist to be displayed on a display on the mobile device.