"Ace Pilot" wrote:
But are you going even further
and saying that all pilots should believe that they could make a
decision as stupid as the one JFK made?

I certainly believe that about myself. I am constantly on guard against it.
(BTW, I don't believe JFK's decision was all that monumentally stupid. In my
short 700-hour flying career, I've made some that were just as
questionable - the difference is that I lucked out and he didn't.)

If I honestly believed that I
was so inexperienced and lacked the training to recognize that I was
making such a stupid decision, I wouldn't get in an airplane. And I'd
like to think that nearly all pilots would exercise that level of
sound judgment.

That's where you're leaving the door open for the Devil: you think you're
immune to your own bad decisions.

I think there needs to be a distinction between most pilots claiming
they would exercise better judgment than JFK and claiming they are
better than the average pilot.

That's a distinction without a difference.

Average pilots do not kill themselves
in plane crashes,

Huh?

i.e., JFK was not average. I think the
rationalization that occurs in these newsgroups is that one would not
make as poor a decision as JFK did, not that ones decision-making
ability is better than the average pilot.

Whatever; the illusion of superiority persists.

Do you believe that you could, one day, make a stupid decision
resulting in a catastrophic outcome?

Of course I do. Better pilots than I do it all the time. Remember that 700%
higher fatal rate?

If so, how do you justify getting
in an airplane and taking that risk?

'Most everything in life is a risk/benefit choice.

[That comes across as rather
critical/insulting, but I don't mean it that way in the least. I'd
really like to hear your views on this matter. I think this discussion
could yield some very valuable ideas, perhaps even change the way I
view risks.]

No offense taken. This is usenet, after all! :^)

What I see in other pilots is simple refusal to recognize the *real* risks
in what we do. If they did face it I believe many would stop flying, so
instead they soothe themselves with this "drive to the airport" nonsense.
This warm, fuzzy cloud of rationalization they fly in leads to just the kind
of situation JFK got into. That they can continue to believe such a thing is
a wonderment, but people will believe what they want to, facts be damned.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM