planeandpilotmag.com 29with it the responsibility to protect others, then relin-
quishing that responsibility may have painful conse-
quences. Not long ago, I heard about a pilot whose
airplane’s engine failed at a critical moment, and
the pilot was unable to gain control and perished.
The odd thing about that incident wasn’t that it hap-
pened but that people at his local airport had known
that he had rarely done annuals, and his cowling and
fuselage were often streaked with oil. Apparently, no
one said anything to him. “Live and let live” may be
a good philosophy, as long as one is willing to accept
that sometimes doing so will result in “live and let die.”
There doesn’t need to be others in the vicinity
in order to avoid confrontation. It can occur in the
cockpit when a co-pilot yields to the authority of a
more senior pilot or out of simply fearing the repercus-
sions. The person engaging in “stupid” or excessively
risky behavior may be someone we know, perhaps
even closely, and in that case, confronting the person
may risk damaging the friendship. In my decades of
practice as a psychologist, I’ve found that one can say
just about anything to another person if the intention
behind doing so is caring. When we genuinely care,
the recipient can sense it, and although they may not
heed our warnings, they may appreciate them.
The irony behind the accident that claimed the lives
of my neighbor and his daughter was that the pilot
reportedly was on his way to another airport to take
an instrument lesson. There’s no way to know whether
anything anyone could have said to him might have
changed his decision not to wait out the morning fog.
As I mentioned, I wasn’t there and imagine I, too, would
have remained silent. Perhaps that’s why my intention
is to speak up now whenever I can. PP