A good article on the whole. The only point I would take exception with is this one:
"We pilots have lots to be afraid of, given that our activity involves hurtling along through thin air a couple of miles above the unyielding surface of the Earth".
I couldn't disagree more. The way the human mind works (or just about any other animal) is if we are continually exposed to the same risk after awhile, one won't perceive the item as risky. The reason I mention this is that everyday people will get on the freeway where hunks of 1/2 ton metal (and more) are zooming around us at 70 miles per hour. We may be the best driver in the world and yet, all it takes is just *one* of those hundreds of drivers to not be paying attention and they can end our lives in mere seconds. In the aircraft, it is far different. Unless one is in an airport environment it is relatively 'rare' to see another plane in the sky with us. In aviation, from our preflight to our in-flight activity, we control most of the risks - we simply don't have that benefit as a motorist.
A good article on the whole. The only point I would take exception with is this one:
"We pilots have lots to be afraid of, given that our activity involves hurtling along through thin air a couple of miles above the unyielding surface of the Earth".
I couldn't disagree more. The way the human mind works (or just about any other animal) is if we are continually exposed to the same risk after awhile, one won't perceive the item as risky. The reason I mention this is that everyday people will get on the freeway where hunks of 1/2 ton metal (and more) are zooming around us at 70 miles per hour. We may be the best driver in the world and yet, all it takes is just *one* of those hundreds of drivers to not be paying attention and they can end our lives in mere seconds. In the aircraft, it is far different. Unless one is in an airport environment it is relatively 'rare' to see another plane in the sky with us. In aviation, from our preflight to our in-flight activity, we control most of the risks - we simply don't have that benefit as a motorist.