He stepped on the Rudder and redefined Va

[AirRabbit]

Originally Posted by bubbers44

Any pilot that takes 5 to 10 minutes to regain compsure isn't a safe pilot. By then it is all over. Maybe 5 seconds if he is slow. One second if he is normal. We don't have the luxury of time in the cockpit. Some things require immediate reflex actions, some don't.

Deciding to divert to an alternate, take your time. Wake turbulence or windshear a second is too long.

I’m not describing the necessity to compose one’s self … I’m describing the ability to not react out of panic, but rather function as you have been trained, choosing what your reaction will be – and I’ve described this in pilots as being somethink like …“scan – mentally process – feel – mentally process – scan – mentally choose a response – physically respond – scan – mentally process – feel the motion – visually confirm the motion cue – mentally process – etc.” this pilot was doing that up until the 2nd vortex … but I think he was on the verge of panic, keeping it under control, and likely, working his way out of it. Unfortunately, the 2nd vortex hit and burst that panic bubble – and from there everything he did (in my opinion) was the execution of what he knew but motivated out of panic. As I also said previously, most people think they know how to recognize someone who has panicked … perhaps some may … but I do know that when you’ve seen someone really panic, it’s something you won’t easily forget. And unless you know the person, or are really familiar with the circumstances, you might not recognize that the actions you see are very likely executed out of knowledge but that person is not calmly exercising that knowledge – he is being motivated out of panic – and that is something that is beyond the control of the person. In fact, the dictionary definition of panic is “… a sudden sensation of fear which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reaction.” To me, this is what I think that F/O was doing ... reacting with a skill set and doing so out of panic ... attempting to function without thinking logically or reasoning to any degree and was, instead, functioning out of an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and frantic agitation.