Stress in the aviation industry
[2] The job of airline pilot can be extremely stressful due to its often high workload and its responsibilities, including assuring the safety of the thousands of passengers they transport around the world.
The trainee pilot flying was "stressed about the approach to the unfamiliar airport and thought the autothrottle was working before the jet came in too low and too slow.
[10] It was too difficult to control the aircraft after touchdown and it slid off the runway and collided with a large steel walkway, resulting in the death of Captain Buschmann and 10 passengers, and many additional severe injuries.
"[11] The accident led to the death of 96 people, due to the high amount of stress being put on the pilot, affecting his mental state and inhibiting him from doing his job.
[7] When a pilot feels stressed, he or she will notice an increase in heart rate, higher blood pressure, muscle tensions, anxiety and fatigue.
[15] These physiological stress symptoms eventually interrupt the pilot's cognitive functions by reducing his or her memory capacity and restraining cue samples.
Through a study researchers found that stress greatly affects flight performances including, smoothness and accuracy of landing, ability to multi-task, and being ahead of the plane.
[7] Further research shows that under high stress, people are likely to make the same decision he or she has previously made, whether or not it led to a positive or a negative consequence before.
Environmental stress can be caused by loud noise, small cockpit space, temperature, or any factors affecting one physically via one's current surroundings.
It is important to minimize these possible sources of stress to maximize pilots' cognitive loads, which affects their perception, memory, and logical reasoning.
[14] Researchers found that improvements in technology have significantly reduced aviation accidents, but human error still endangers flight safety.
On the other hand, if an individual believes situational demands outweigh the resources, he or she will evaluate it as a threat, leading to poorer performance.
PCE is defined as an "erroneous behavior due to failure to revise a flight plan despite emerging evidence that suggests it is no longer safe.
"[4] The French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA) stated that 41.5% of casualties in general aviation were caused by "get-home-itis syndrome", when a pilot decides to continue to their planned destination no matter what it takes.
Stress helps to simplify a pilot's task and enables him or her to focus on major issues by eliminating nonessential information.
[21] They hold a unique position in the workforce that includes peak physical and mental condition, high intelligence and extensive training.
Their jobs can include passenger or cargo transport, reconnaissance missions, or attacking from the air or flight training, all while expected to be in perfect mental and physical condition.
Millions of veterans struggle with post-traumatic stress injuries, unhealthy coping strategies such as alcohol or substance abuse[23] and in the worst of cases, suicide, which is very common.
Their main strategy is to find the problem causing the stress and solve it immediately, so that they do not have to move to a secondary option, which consumes time they do not have.
