Originally Posted by Clandestino
.... but we also have few who were so excited by their first occurrence late in their careers they have turned it into disaster and many an observer was puzzled by what was superficially labelled as "beginner's mistake" e.g. being so obsessed by need to prepare the cabin for landing with unsafe gear as to allow the aeroplane to run out of fuel. So neither experience or handflying practice by themselves can prevent future AF447-like accidents.
I liked this preceding post and it points up the problem of how to maintain control of yourself and your emotions when suddenly stressed.
I learned the flying game in a much more hazardous environment than is currently accepted. By the time I had a few hundred hours, I'd had the experience of flying into a fog bank after a night takeoff, inadvertent IFR in mountainous terrain, landing under extreme crosswinds (in a taildragger), iced up pitot tube, being rolled by wake turbulence to 90 degrees bank against full opposite aileron, control restriction (due maintenance error) during landing flare, numerous near midair collisions, observing a spin and ejection by a wingman, and still more that do not come readily to mind. The thing that prepared me for this was an intensive training program, strong internal motivation, and extensive 'hangar flying' with numerous instructors and fellow students.
The key is to remain thinking and analyzing despite the adrenalin shot. To remain in full control of your actions despite the adrenalin. I know that eventually, I developed the
ability to override what was happening to my body and remain in mental control.
Example: When the G-suit inflated after I had saluted the catapult officer and before the catapult fired, I was able to ignore the crushing force on my lower body and fly the aircraft through the catapult shot and cleanup after takeoff. ( I know this seems funny, but if you have not experienced it-you have no idea of what is involved.) Others faced with that same emergency have stabbed themselves with a knife trying to deflate the g-suit.
How to develop this ability to retain mental control under stress is the question. Certainly simulators can help develop this mental toughness, but at some point, you realize it is just a simulator, and if you crash, it is just a learning situation. Some means of triggering the adrenalin response is necessary for the full training benefit. That is what is really meant by the startle effect.