Snowbird writes:

Thank you. The reason I press this issue is because aviation safety is
serious business. Claiming to have a high safety standard based on simulator
flying only, is in my opinion close to nonsense.

I don't see why that would make any difference.

Why? Because the sim pilot does not run the risk of getting hurt if things
go bad.

People with a good attitude towards safety don't need to be motivated by the
risk of getting hurt. Indeed, if the only way to make someone conscientious
about safety is to put him into a situation where he is at immediate and
obvious risk, then there is a problem with his attitude.

Most people run into dangerous situations because they behaved in unsafe ways
when there is _not_ any obvious risk of harm. Since they are motivated only
by obvious, immediate risk, any time that they do not perceive such a risk,
they disregard safety.

This is how motorcycle riders crush their skulls by not wearing a helmet.
They don't see an immediate, obvious risk to not wearing a helmet, so they
don't put one on. Then, when the risk actually becomes significant, they are
unprepared. Most people will put on a helmet if they know that they're about
to hit a brick wall. The difficulty is in getting people to put on helmets
even when they aren't in any immediate and obvious danger.

Thus, a pilot who is motivated to be safe only by a risk of accident or injury
is not fundamentally a safe pilot. The safe pilot takes precautions
irrespective of any obvious risk.

It teaches the student in the most realistic way
the consequences of not yet having the required skills - with a Flight
Instructor always there to keep the situation safe and coach the student on
how to progress towards his goal to become a pilot.

If a flight instructor is there, it's not realistic. The risk is not any
greater than in a simulator, since the instructor can save the day. People in
that situation are motivated by a desire for approval from the instructor, not
by any real risk. The problem there is that they may not behave safely when
the instructor is not around to correct them, especially if they've never been
motivated in any other way.

That mental attitude -
grasping the consequences of a pilot failure - is one of the most important
traits of a safe pilot.

Everyone can grasp the consequences when the risk is immediate and obvious.
Many people cannot when the risk is more remote. And this is true even for
trained pilots, which is why so many trained pilots still crash due to a lack
of caution and concern for safety.

In summary, if you only learn about safety when you are threatened with
immediate harmful consequences, you haven't really learned about safety.

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