Deliberate Decision Making by Aircraft Pilots: A Simple Reminder to Avoid Decision Making Under Panic

The problem of poor decision making by pilots has been identified clearly as a significant contributor to aviation accidents. Various programs have been developed to address the problem and are being applied, principally in ab initio pilot training. International airlines and military aviation authorities have developed their own programs. The purpose of this study was to develop an intervention that exposes existing general aviation pilots top this training. The intervention was applied to a sample of 40 pilots. Analysis of the follow-up questionnaire responses shows an overwhelming acceptance and an indication that it has produced positive attitude changes in some individuals. The results indicate the validity of the intervention for broad scale application to all pilots.