Stress In The Cockpit

True story: A USAF F-105 Thunderchief pilot was shot down over North Vietnam, ejected and landed in the jungle. Coming up on his emergency radio, he was told a rescue mission was on the way, to hide out and to come back up on the frequency in an hour. The pilot waited for what seemed like an hour and called back; he once again was told to call back when the hour was up-in 55 more minutes.

Key Dismukes

Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Stress significantly impairs pilot performance by reducing working memory capacity and disrupting attention, leading to errors in comprehension, task management, and communication.
Developing automaticity through extensive practice and mental rehearsal is crucial because automatic processes are less vulnerable to stress than conscious processing.
Pilots can actively manage stress in challenging situations by aggressively managing workload, slowing down, being deliberate, rehearsing emergencies, and practicing controlled breathing.

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Stressful situations are not limited to combat aviation and affect far more than just time perception. Pilots of all stripes encounter challenging situations ranging from the dire (an in-flight fire), to the threatening (ice accumulation during descent) to the social (struggling through a difficult check flight). How we handle the stress can be just as important as how we handle the challenge.