Knowing When to Cut Bait

FLYING Staff

Friday, June 04, 2004 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The author, a pilot, describes her struggle to decide whether to continue a flight home despite rapidly deteriorating weather and visibility, driven by a strong desire to reach her destination and avoid an unplanned overnight stay.
She employs a personal "NTSB report" rule of thumb, imagining how an accident report would read to objectively assess risk and avoid making decisions that would make her "look like an idiot" by violating her own safety rules.
Ultimately, despite the emotional pull to get home, she listens to her intuitive "gut feeling" that processes complex information and unequivocally signals it's time to prioritize safety, leading her to turn back and land at a closer airport.

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The action is so simple, requiring such a small amount of effort. And yet I can’t quite seem to get myself to perform it.

My hand is poised on the throttle knob. All I have to do is pull it back. And yet, in that move is the surrender of my own home and bed for at least two days. If I leave the throttle where it is, I have a chance of making it home tonight. The minute I pull it back, that chance is gone. And because weather is moving in, it will also probably leave me stuck in some remote motel for longer than I care to think about.