I think it was Bruce Lansberg who quoted a New Zealand CAA accident study. This appeared to show that in 75% of fatal accidents the pilot attitude was a major factor whilst pilot mishandling accounted for 25%. This figure was reversed in non-fatal accidents. This reminded me of Jeremy Pratt’s interesting list of Hazardous Attitudes in the PPL /Human Performance text book. They were –
Anti-authority – “Sod the stupid rules, I’ll do what I want.”
Impulsiveness – “C’mon, let’s go for it.” (Often when a group of pilots is involved.)
Complacency – “It worked OK last time.”
Machismo – “I’ll just show them what can be done even if they can’t cope.”
Resignation – “If it happens, so be it.”
Do you fit into any of these groups? If so see me ASAP.