One of the first things I do when talking flight safety to pilots is to tell
them emphatically that they should NEVER start thinking about themselves as
being "safe" pilots. This can lead to a complacency that can become a vary
dangerous habit pattern for a pilot. Its far too easy for a pilot who thinks
of himself/herself as "safe" to relax and lose that keen desire for the
constant improvement demanded by flight operations.
This basic psychology is recognized both in the airline and military flight
safety communities.
The key to flight safety demands that a pilot develop a mental outlook about
the flight environment that requires a constant monitoring of performance.
This monitoring should be ingrained toward improvement rather than
maintaining the status quo. In other words, a pilot who thinks of
himself/herself as being "safe", is generally more susceptible to accepting
their level of performance rather than actively seeking to improve it.
These are subtle factors indeed, as they relate to the flight safety
picture, and basically amount to a proper attitude toward self evaluation,
but absolutely necessary in the development of a sound flight safety
environment for a pilot.
You can sum all this up simply by saying that a really safe pilot never
thinks of himself/herself as being safe, but rather constantly thinking in
the context of how to become "safer".
Dudley Henriques


"Bill Watson" wrote in message
...
Ron Lee wrote:
Good pilot? Safe pilot? Nahh, just alive by the grace of ...

No, you used proper judgement consistent with your abilities.

Ron Lee
Thanks Ron.

Sounds like you've done enough flying over enough years to be a safe
pilot, and one I'd be pleased to fly with. However, given the level of
arrogance and cocksure'edness displayed in your comments here, I'm not
sure that I would be so pleased to fly with you when you were younger
and/or less experienced.

Living pilots can always point to their existence as evidence of their
superior skills and judgement. And worse, they can always point to other
pilots' demise as evidence of their lacking the same.

Fate is the Hunter, and there but for the grace of ...

Bill Watson - not believing in fate or god, yet humble in the face of both
nonetheless