Bad judgment lives at the confluence of ignorance and fear.
Not that most folks notice.
I direct you to an astoundingly popular activity that involves a carnie strapping you and a friend into a device intended to shoot you into the sky. It then allows you to drop at the speed of gravity, before boinging you back upward again, albeit to a slightly lower altitude this time.
That cycle repeats a time or two until the ride operator allows the structure you’re held in to descend to the ground. Safe at last.
This ride is tremendously popular. It exists in various tourist-rich places around the country under a variety of names. The cost can be as little as $25 for a single person to ride one time — $25 for a one-minute thrill.
It’s breathtaking, it’s gut-wrenching, it makes big strong men scream like terrified little girls, and it causes a fair number of folks pass to out from fear induced overstimulation. In some cases they pass out repeatedly.
What fun.
I’ve got no kick against this ride, or any other for that matter. Thrill rides have been with us for a century or more.
But what I find interesting is that people will line up to experience the sensations induced by a ride they have absolutely no understanding of or control over.
Some are powered by little more than giant rubber bands, operated by someone with unknown credentials, and the rider makes no attempt to inspect the hardware at all. They don’t even verify that inspections were done by a qualified individual or team of individuals. They just jump in, get nervous, and fly.
Contrast that with the experience virtually every pilot has had when inviting someone to fly with them for the first time. Oh, no. Now the real fear kicks in. We’re talking real life and death risk when we talk about airplanes. This is anxiety-inducing stuff.
Forget that the pilot has been educated in the various skills required to fly safely, and is tested rigorously and often.
Ignore the maintenance requirements that have aircraft owners tearing down their airplanes annually at the very least to inspect, detect, and repair any issues that might arise in the airframe or powerplant.
The passenger doesn’t know any of that. They just perceive flying as being dangerous, or at least risky, and very possibly a risk not worth taking.
Now try to compare and contrast these two scenarios. In one, the point is to be scared, or at least challenged by the complete loss of control the rider experiences.
In the other, the passenger is transported with great care from start to finish. Whether they land back where they started, or alight in some distant place for a meal or a visit, they do so in relative comfort with great care being taken to prevent anything sudden, violent, or risky from happening.
Is it just me or does anyone else find it ironic that the general public finds the first example to be a totally acceptable experience for even a small child to embark on, and the second is an activity to be avoided if at all possible?
This is a quandary. How do we as an industry correct the thinking of the average man and woman to see aviation for what it is? How do we make them aware that aviation benefits their lives each and every day, while the thrill rides they are so much more comfortable with provide little more than momentary stimulation?
I don’t have an answer for this question, but it does nag at me. I suspect it nags at you too – at least to some degree.
Last week I took a woman on her first airplane flight. I do this whenever I can, as I’m sure you’ve done.
I take great care to make sure my passenger is comfortable and aware of the plan for our flight before we ever get to the airplane. We walk out to the airplane, I show her around the basic features, explain that the Cessna 152 we’re going to be flying is an incredibly popular training aircraft and personal recreational vehicle.
We get in. I show her how to buckle up. I explain how the engine has its own electrical system and will keep running even if the alternator and battery fail. As we taxi I let my passenger take a stab at steering the airplane. They always get a kick out of using their feet to direct our path.They get involved in the flight well before we make it to the runway.
When we do roll onto the runway I ask them to follow me on the controls. I’ve rarely had someone decline the offer. I talk as we accelerate, letting them know I’m peeking at the tach to be sure we’ve got sufficient RPMs. I take a quick glance at the airspeed indicator now and then, but I’m primarily looking down the runway, watching the windsock, then back to the airspeed indicator. We rotate. Just a tad. We increase our angle of attack just a skosh and let the airplane fly itself off the ground.
Invariably my passengers smile. The liftoff is so gentle and gradual, not at all like the rocket-ship leap from the earth they’d imagined. Within a matter of seconds they find they’re in control. My hands are in my lap. The passenger has become the pilot.
This process takes longer than the simple thrill ride, but it provides a profound sense of awe and personal accomplishment.
How do we best tell that story? How can we best demonstrate the joy of flight to a wider and wider audience?
What’s your best idea? Leave it in the comments below. Who knows, maybe your idea is the one that will grab a new potential pilot and lead them to the airport. It could happen.
Every airplane accident makes the news. So the reality of the statistics are disjoined from the perception that those darn little airplanes are dangerous! Sounds scary to the general population. What if every car accident were reported? Would the perception be different? A point I make to my non-flying friends is that once away from the vicinity of an airport, seeing another airplane is rare. You’re mostly alone, one of the attractions of flying. Contrast that to driving on a busy hiway passing within a few feet of twenty five ton semi’s at a combined speed of 140mph, really which is more dangerous?
I’m not a pilot, but as my knowledge of your field and of your profession (or avocation) grew, my ignorance and fear were eliminated. Grandpa was a Boeing flight test engineer in the forties and fifties. My son has been a first officer for a major airline for 16 years. I’ve read what Sully Sullenberger has written, and to civilian public safety I’ve applied what Tony Kern wrote in Redefining Airmanship. Speaking of theft, I’ve been very happy to “steal” CRM principles and apply those to the management of major incidents. Further, on cable TV I’ve seen how Boeing tests 777 wings. When I’m earning Sky Miles and seated next to a high ignorance, high fear passenger, if given the opportunity, I’m happy to explain what the pilots, controllers, mechanics, designers, and builders do to make aviation a lot safer than where I spent 32 years in law enforcement: trying to make highway travel safer. Here’s a load of gratitude and respect from one who sits in the back. Keep up the good work. I’ll continue trying to educate the fearful.
There are general aviation wrecks across this country on a nearly Dalit basis. There are few mishaps (call them what you will) where amusement rides are concerned. Perhaps that is why aviation is perceived as being dangerous.
I’ve had a number of people who sit they would never get into a small airplane and fly. They did and I treated them the way they deserved. All said they would fly again.
Perception is one thing, while reality is different. Small plane cranes are many time fatal, killing or seriously injuring several people in a si glue Incident. Again, we don’t see this with amusement rides. Risks are inherent in aviation and amusement attractions but, the risk is higher and a more horrific outcome is possible and likely in a small airplane wreck.
Mike, there is ample evidence of general aviation accidents occurring. However, the Nall Report shows improvement in the industry’s safety record while various groups around the nation dedicate themselves to increasing safety margins through education and training. It’s working.
Simultaneously, people routinely assume that amusement park rides are safe, with accidents only happening on rare occasion.
Let’s re-think that assumption. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that in 2016 alone, emergency rooms saw 30,900 injuries resulting from amusement park rides. That’s a big number. Fatalities are not tracked routinely, so the exact number is unknown.
We shouldn’t automatically avoid having fun because there is a risk involved. There is risk involved in every aspect of life. But we should base our decisions on actual information, not mere supposition. In the big scheme of things, we as a species tend to mis-judge risk with alarming frequency. Aviation, while feared by many, is not nearly as risky as one might think. The statistics, training, and recurrent educational opportunities available bear that out.
Great article and wonderfully articulated. My first flying lesson was when I was only 13 years old, and I’ve never stopped. But there is no way in Heaven, hell or Earth you’ll ever find me strapped into one of those rubber-band-type-rides! No way, period. I have REALLY bad luck with rubber-bands, and if my big butt were to be strapped to one of those rubber-band-type-rides, something bad… Correction: REALLY BAD is gonna happen!
Hmmm an interesting summary of the fine line between thrill-seeking and rational behavior. I think you’ve pretty much summed up a critical element of human behavior.
With respect to new passengers, your technique is quite similar to the one I use. I had a very autistic/ADHD boy fly with me. He was a chatterbox but understood that once we crossed the line onto the runway we had to have silence. Like you, I didn’t rotate the airplane but rather let it fly gently off. I will never forget the sound of his signal that we were airborne. A simple quiet, “Wow!” from him said all that needed to be said. We had a fantastic flight together.
Some people feel the “wow” factor, others don’t. Everybody gets to fly the airplane, and most don’t even realize they are controlling our path through the sky until several minutes into the flight, often when I’m using both hands to take a photo of the grin on their face. That’s when the magic hits them.
Some years ago there was an acrobat-performer that was suspended and dropped from a ‘bungee jumping apparatus in – at the New Orleans Super Dome. There was a miscalculation and upon drop and impact her skull was immediately crushed. Not to mention other injuries that have happened using these devices.
I introduce the flight almost EXACTLY as you do. During the take off roll I will often include – “check that needle occasionally (the ASI) and when it gets to XX – pull back gently”. That way THEY decided to fly. In the practice area I will introduce some simple gentle turns, climbs and descents. I worry about the rudder – they don’t need to know about that on the first flight. “Lean it over gently like a bike and it will turn”.
Now as regards funfair rides…… I will ask if they like them. If they say “yes” – while demonstrating climbs and descents I will ever so slightly “pop” the plane into neutral (not even negative) G and say something to the effect that we fly the plane with gentle and precise movements of the controls and avoid pushing too hard on the controls. Cause some of them DO want that thrill. Before I get flamed for this – I do this with extreme caution and not on most flights. Case by case.
Don’t forget to fly the plane yourself a bit while they get some pictures. I once had someone tell me they loved being allowed to fly most of the flight but they didn’t get any pictures…..
First off the quote got my attention: “Bad judgment lives at the confluence of ignorance and fear.” It says exactly what I have been thinking about the un-understandable fear of getting in a plane. Usually my first reaction is “you ever try it”. When they say yeah, I did. I sort of let it drop. We might talk about what happened. But, I know all that I went throgh to be a pilot. I didn’t have the fire to fly like my dad did. Actually I was sacred to death when I went up with him when I was about 5 I think. As was typical he didn’t say a word just “get in”. And I had no idea he was going to cut the engine. I just knew we were going to crash. Fast forward 15 years and I went to my local Airport for a visit and decided I would like to learn how to fly. It took me about 2 years to make it to Private pilot but I did it. But, now my biggest disappointment is my wife. Who did go for a flight one time in our Club Aeronca Chief. That may have been part of the problem. It was a smooth calm day but she got an upset stomach and thought the plane was sort of flimsy. She won’t even go to the Airport now. I do try to share plane stuff with her and she is fine. But, has a general low tolerance for Aviation; I keep thinking if I could only educate her on the things you talked about how much training and all the inspections that take place. It’s sad to me that some people just don’t get it, maybe never will and like you say go to the fair and blow hundreds of dollars doing things far more dangerous and risky with out giving it bit of thought.