Embracing Risk

It’s often difficult to compare the risks imposed by different activities, but it’s reasonable to state flying a certified single-engine airplane for an hour on a severe-clear day isn’t as risky as spending that same time performing low-level aerobatics in an Experimental airplane. At the same time, and according to John King of King Schools, “you’re more likely to have a fatality in a GA airplane than in a car” when traveling the same distance. If the added risk exposure we get from flying didn’t provide some benefit—more efficient transportation, for example, or pure enjoyment—we might not do it at all. But the simple enjoyment of boring holes in the sky and other benefits outweighs that risk for many of us.

Key Takeaways:

• Flying involves a balance of inherent risks and significant rewards, shaping individual risk tolerance which varies greatly among aviators.
• Pilots advance skills by deliberately pushing their operational limits through continuous training and learning, including from both personal and others' past mistakes.
• Human risk perception is often irrational, heavily swayed by cognitive biases and heuristics that can lead to flawed aeronautical decision-making, even when presented with facts.
• Effective aviation risk management requires pilots to be self-aware of their cognitive biases, engage in critical self-evaluation, and continuously ask "what could go wrong?" before each flight.

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