Those who know me will know I’m not one to apologise for CASA. However.
Life IS ambiguous, Flying IS ambiguous. I have NEVER had an Exam or Flight test that stressed me as much as some real situations. It might not be in the syllabus, but it matters how you manage yourself. If one of my test candidates gets nervous, and we all do, I ask them “what is the worst that can happen to you today?” Answer “I fail”. “What is the worst that can happen to you tomorrow when you have mum and the kids on board?” Answer “we die” Therefore the worst outcome today is not really that bad. Another Question. “If you get 71% in the exam what happens?” “I pass”. If you get 99% on a flight?” Answer “we might die”. Which would you prefer? In an exam the office is not moving at a great rate of knots, the weather is fine, the passengers are quite, ATC is not pestering you about your position, you have a lot of time. If you can’t cope with ambiguity and manage yourself in that situation what hope have you got in the aircraft with all the reverse happening? You can fail an exam as many times as you like. How many times can you fail a flight? Once. As recent events show. Even the best and most experienced pilots can get caught out. I take it as a warning to pull my socks up.