Stress/Anxiety Driven Accidents

On Friday, April 6, 2018 at 4:32:09 PM UTC-4, wrote:
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2- After it is over have a conversation about what happened and why. I teach that in a difficult situation "concentration" is exactly the wrong thing to do and that the pilot needs to recognize that it isn't so good and remember to stick with basics, open up and look around,and RELAX.

Thanks for that insight, unc. But how do you get your students to "relax" under stress? Is it the repetitive exposure to stress, and the post-flight discussions of it, which do that? Do they reduce the stress, or rather help the student recognize its presence and deal with it?

On Friday, April 6, 2018 at 5:36:33 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Friday, April 6, 2018 at 4:32:09 PM UTC-4, wrote:
...
2- After it is over have a conversation about what happened and why. I teach that in a difficult situation "concentration" is exactly the wrong thing to do and that the pilot needs to recognize that it isn't so good and remember to stick with basics, open up and look around,and RELAX.

Thanks for that insight, unc. But how do you get your students to "relax" under stress? Is it the repetitive exposure to stress, and the post-flight discussions of it, which do that? Do they reduce the stress, or rather help the student recognize its presence and deal with it?

I try to have them recognize the stressful situation and, in doing so remember to stay with basics. The lesson is that you do not do better by concentrating harder.
It reminds me of the (true) story of a pilot that knew he was on a very marginal glide back to the airport. He concentrated so hard on the glide computer that the first clue he picked up that he was critically low was the flash of the telephone pole he went by in his peripheral vision. Obviously an extreme example.
Another lesson I teach at safety meetings is that when you relax after a high stress time,you will have a period of diminished brain power( I call it post stress stupidity). The antidote is to not allow yourself to relax until the landing, or save, or whatever is over.
FWIW
UH

Since I have gone through this training, and have used it as well......."Train for the worst, hope for the best".
No, I am not saying to think "sweet thoughts and butterflies" lest someone comes back with a remark.
Sometimes it is, at 200', "what would you do if the rope broke right now?". If they hesitate, and conditions allow, yank the release and state, "rope break, now what?".
Again, throw it at them, see what they do.

I have had students throw up their hands and say, "your ship". If I think we have margin, I will put my hands on their shoulders and say, "so we go down together, what do you do next?".

The goal is not to prove I am better.
The goal is not to scare the student.
The goal is not to chase a student off.

The goal is to see what a student will do under pressure while someone else can successfully end the flight. At some point, an instructor has to sign off a student (actually they don't "have to", there are some students that should find something else to do), better to have some clue what said student will do when crap happens.

A bit of stress in a semi controlled situation is a decent barometer of what may happen down the road.

Heck, I have pulled the release, during BFR's/field checks, at 1800'AGL and said, "rope break".
Curious to see the response. Situational awareness is major here.

At the end of any of these flights above, discuss what went well, what may need work. Also find out what the student/testee saw or thought.
Work from there.