Salute!
Thanks Wolf and Two's... decent points for all of us to consider.
After reading the history of the student over the last few rides, I can easily understand that some emotional pressure was present. I also wonder if there was "outside" pressure, as the student would not have advanced to the stage of his/her training without good hands and such, otherwise would have been on the cargo/buff training track.
One of the lessons pounded into me as a raw nugget in UPT, and later in my first operational squadron was to leave personal problems at home, on the ground. They would still be there if you came back. If you took the problems up with you, you have a less chance of coming back to deal with them. The high performance aviation mistress is very sweet, but also harsh if you do not have your sh!t together and forget your mission is not just to enjoy a clear dark night at 35,000 feet with the Northern Lights beaming down. Or maybe coming home thru the haze when the Hmong were burning their last opium crop for the next season and you had just tried to hit some trucks coming down the Trail.
At all my rejoins with fellow combat pilots, we joke about having a family photo on the instrument panel! That was a certain death sentence! But Hollywood is Hollywood, huh?
Won't talk about this sad accident anymore except on PM.
Gums sends.