You Are The Judge

The little voice inside the pilot’s head nagged on and on: “Headwinds higher than forecast...groundspeed lower than planned...maybe you should recalculate your fuel?” The simple fact is pilots too often fail to act on their internal voices until it’s too late. Accident reports, NASA ASRS submissions and down-and-dirty, true-flight confessions in hangar flying debriefs tell the sad tale. According to NTSB data and analysis by the AOPA Air Safety Institute and the Flight Safety Foundation, improper decision-making—judgment failings, many of them—underpin the majority of the 75 percent of accidents attributed to “pilot error.” It’s not smart to ignore that little voice questioning why you’re ignoring your own best instincts. There are many scenarios where that little voice can start yammering in your ear, perhaps most especially whether there is sufficient fuel aboard.

D Higdon

Monday, November 28, 2011 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots frequently disregard their internal "little voice" or intuition regarding potential issues, which is a major contributor to the majority of general aviation accidents attributed to pilot error.
Common scenarios where pilots fail to act on these warnings include unforecast weather, missed ATC instructions, misinterpreting environmental signs, underestimating fuel consumption, and launching with equipment doubts.
It is crucial for pilots to heed these internal warnings and take immediate action by investigating, communicating with ATC or Flight Service, confessing mistakes, correcting the situation, or diverting to ensure safety.

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The little voice inside the pilot’s head nagged on and on: “Headwinds higher than forecast…groundspeed lower than planned…maybe you should recalculate your fuel?” The simple fact is pilots too often fail to act on their internal voices until it’s too late. Accident reports, NASA ASRS submissions and down-and-dirty, true-flight confessions in hangar flying debriefs tell the sad tale.