How Not To Get Experience

Its said we learn to make good decisions by experience, and that experience results from making bad decisions. The flaw in this plan is that in flying, bad decisions can have awful consequences. How can we learn to make good flying decisions without exposing ourselves and our passengers to undue risk? What are we as an industry doing wrong, that pilots regularly make such poor decisions about safety of flight? After all, as much as 80 percent of all aircraft mishaps result from a chain of poor decisions on the part of the pilot, with actual mechanical issues being secondary if they indeed are a factor at all. I think whats going on is the whole culture of how we "learn to fly."

Key Takeaways:

• Aviation mishaps are primarily caused by poor pilot decision-making stemming from a lack of practical experience, not insufficient basic flying skills, as initial certification only establishes minimum competence.
• Pilots should embrace continuous learning beyond initial certification by actively seeking additional instruction with CFIs, finding mentors, and engaging with other pilots to discuss real-world scenarios.
• Leveraging diverse educational resources like magazines, online courses, and challenging, scenario-based flight reviews is crucial for developing robust decision-making skills.
• The article advocates for learning good decision-making proactively from the experiences of others ("the easy way") to avoid severe consequences inherent in learning through personal bad decisions ("the hard way").

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