Flight Faa

MALE pilot are more SKILLED than FEMALE pilots?

Could a female pilot land on the Hudson that day? Do you agree?
Thanks for the great replies so far. I agree with Grumpy and Aviophage - I just wanted to see what others had to say about this common inequality within industries.

What happened that day was more a matter of sheer dumb luck rather than any skill. Fact is, ANY pilot would know what to do to maintain control when the fans stop. So yeah, a female coulda done it if she were just as lucky as Sully.

All of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War were exposed to special risks, but perhaps none more so than the aviators who flew strike missions over North Vietnam. Their F-4 Phantoms and F-105 Thunderchiefs were regularly brought down by missiles, ground fire, or flak that was so heavy "you could walk on it." Many aviators died in crashes or ended up as prisoners of war.

In spite of the danger they faced, the aviators never hesitated when called upon to fly more missions. This was a tribute to their bravery and professionalism, but it also reflected what I might call the "fighter-pilot mindset." Each pilot had to believe that although some aircraft would not return from the mission, his would. He was in control. He knew the capabilities of the aircraft and he knew his flying ability. He would make it.

The fighter-pilot mindset was necessary because without it, pilots would not launch in their aircraft. No one would accept a risky mission if he really believed he would not be returning. That would be kamikaze thinking. Each pilot had to believe that the "other guy's" plane might be shot down, but his would not.

Many of today's teens have a fighter-pilot mindset of sorts, but it has nothing to do with bravery; rather, it is their belief that although they might engage in risky behavior, nothing bad will happen. Dire consequences, if any, will befall "the other guy." For example, teens more or less know that smoking means planting time-release carcinogens in their bodies, but they smoke nevertheless. They'll concede that many smokers will die from lung or throat cancer, but they won't. Besides, mom and dad smoke, don't they?

Similarly, teens are hurt in car crashes because, in spite of their inexperience, they feel they are "in control" of their speeding automobiles. Parents mindlessly aid and abet this process by providing children as young as 16 with automobiles. After all, the parents want their sons and daughters to be "cool," perhaps even envied in high school.

Teens also engage in risky sexual practices, drink alcoholic beverages and experiment with drugs because of a mindset that leads them to believe that only the "other guy" will contract a venereal disease, become dangerously drunk or get hooked on drugs. Today's teen arrogantly thinks he is "in control" and master of all he surveys.

Responsible adults may not be able to break this destructive mindset in teens, but perhaps they can minimize it through a combination of education and toughlove. By education I do not mean lecturing the teen and giving him or her a pamphlet on the dangers of smoking or reckless driving; rather, I think requiring the teen to work as a volunteer in a hospital that treats cancer patients and victims of car crashes would be useful. Maybe watching lung cancer patients cough up blood will change the teen's idea that smoking is somehow "cool." Also, seeing the broken bodies that result from car crashes may cause teens to think more about their own carefree driving habits.

Sometimes toughlove is needed, particularly when it comes to automobiles. I like a rule that the first time a teen gets a ticket or is involved in an accident, the car is parked for a month. A second violation causes the car to be sold. No exceptions, no explanations, no apologies.

In spite of what they may think, today's teens are not invincible. Most assuredly, they are not "in control." You and I, as caring parents, must do what we can to dispel the mindset among our teens that they can engage in risky behavior without suffering consequences. Bad things do not happen only to "the other guy."

Author's URL: http://garyjacobsen.yolasite.com

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