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Distracted Flying

Ultimately, flying is a series of distractions, one after another. Along the way, someone still has to fly the airplane. 

No good career advice matters unless you remain alive and accident- and violation-free. Alamy
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The article illustrates how even "hands-free" communication (e.g., phone in a car, radio in an airplane) is profoundly distracting and can lead to critical oversights and dangerous situations.
  • Through personal anecdotes of near-accidents while driving and flying, the author demonstrates how engaging in communication can cause a loss of situational awareness and focus on primary tasks.
  • It emphasizes the "aviate, navigate, communicate" hierarchy, stressing that piloting the aircraft or driving the vehicle must always be prioritized over communication and other secondary tasks.
  • The author concludes that humans are not effective multitaskers and advocates for conscious management of distractions to ensure safety in critical operational environments.
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I was stopped at a four-way street intersection the other night, the kind with stop signs. Traffic was moderate, so, I had to wait my turn, as did others. In a perfect world, all four drivers would arrive at four different times, and it would be clear who has the right of way and should go first and who doesn’t. Simple. But this day was not perfect.

Along with all the other drivers, I was talking on my phone and came to a complete stop behind the car ahead of me. After it moved off, I moved up a bit, took its place, and stopped before the stop sign, nice and legal. I saw no movement, and started to move straight ahead, when suddenly I saw a huge dark pickup truck on my left “come out of nowhere” and enter the intersection, trying to turn left—into the same physical space I was about to occupy. We didn’t swap paint, but it was closer than I’d like. 

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