Aviation and Mental Health

I seem to have taken on the task in eMentor of asking you to watch for your own, your families' and your clients' wellbeing. This concern, as you've read, arose from things that happened to me and I thought we might all benefit from the lessons learned. I'm going to suggest again that we watch out for each other, this time, in reaction to the national and international news regarding "suicide by airplane."
 
By now, you must be aware of the theft Friday in Seattle of an empty Horizon Air Q400 turboprop by a ground service agent for that company, and what the NTSB has called its intentional crashing and the employee's death. Although many not familiar with aviation were somewhat astounded that he could start and fly the aircraft, several knowledgeable people, including NAFI President Rick Todd, helped inform the media. (See stories below).
 
A less noted incident is one that happened in Utah on Monday. Police said a commercial pilot stole his employer's Citation and crashed it into his own home in an apparent suicide, and apparently an attempt to kill his wife and step-son. He had been arrested for domestic violence and released on bail earlier the same day.
 
These incidents, along with the 2015 Germanwings murder/suicide involving an Airbus A320 that killed 150 and led the EU to implement psychological screening of airline pilots, and a student's suicide that nearly took the life of a flight instructor in Connecticut in 2016, are tragedies for the dead, survivors and their families. Many are also already discussing what effect the latest events might have on aviation security on a national and international level.
 
However, right now I'm thinking about individual human beings, which prompts me to ask you to look out not only for the physical wellbeing of the people close to you and in your instructing endeavors, but also for their emotional state. Stress and depression can take on many forms and there is no shame in either offering or accepting help or comfort. I'll touch on this topic in the upcoming Mentor magazine, but consider the many resources available to you or your family, friends, colleagues, or students in times of need.

One resource is www.BeThe1to.com. Your state, county or employer will also have resources. To reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Watch Out for Each Other

A few weeks ago, I wrote about summer heat and being careful to monitor your condition as well as that of your students. Something happened to me since then that made me want to reach out to all of you to ask that you redouble your efforts paying attention to your own health and your family's, friends', and students'. Before I go further, I want to note that I'm not telling this story for sympathy. Rather, it's a cautionary tale to my fellow instructors to be careful of our tendency to dismiss aches and pains, being the type-A achievers most of us tend to be.

This started on the Sunday a week before AirVenture. I woke up with the worst back pain I'd ever had in my life. I was convinced that I pulled a muscle when I tossed a backpack over my shoulder the day before. I elected to take the day off and watch a couple of movies and just relax. During the day, no matter how I sat or lay down, I just could not find a comfortable position.

The next day, after a pretty restless night, my back hurt even more. I decided to go to the clinic at my office to find out just what I'd done to myself. About halfway through a three-block walk from my apartment to my office, I called a co-worker, Kevin, and asked him to meet me on the way and help by carrying my backpack. Just before the company promoted him, Kevin had been an EMT with a volunteer department near St. Louis. When he met me, he took one look at me and said, "Why don't I get my car and take you to the emergency room? That's what they'll do anyway." I thought about it for about a minute, realized that, in my company's culture, if I'd said the same thing to another employee, I'd expect them to go, so I agreed.

Long story short, at the ER, after a series of tests, X-rays and CAT scans, I was informed I had blood clots (pulmonary embolisms) in both lungs. I was admitted to the hospital on an emergency basis after being put on blood thinner. Fortunately, there's no damage to my heart or lungs, and I was released the next afternoon after an uncomfortable night. The really good news is that, because this isn't congenital or disease-caused, there's very little likelihood of recurrence, as the doctors think it was the result of a bad bruise on my calf about six weeks ago. The only downside is that I'm just not allowed to fly anything (not even the back of an airliner) for the next three to six months, depending on the results of a follow up in October. More good news is that I've been reassured by both AOPA and the FAA medical folks that getting my medical back should be straightforward. I'll keep you apprised of that process.

There's a saying attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt that has been adopted into aviation that goes, "Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself." Here's what I want you to learn from mine. I thought I had a pulled muscle in my upper back, compounded by sleeping awkwardly. I've been told by the doctors that if I'd continued to self-diagnose and hadn't listened to my friend, this story might have had a very different outcome and that I'm very, very lucky. Regardless of age or overall health, if you or someone you know has an unexplained pain or irritation or even a small wound or bruise that won't go away, get it checked out by a professional - the worst that will happen is maybe some embarrassment and a bill. Think of it as doing a precautionary landing, if that helps. In my case, that "precautionary landing" proved to be a lifesaver.

Stay Cool, Fly Safe

Every one of us has at some point deviated from strict adherence to the AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary. Sometimes it's for a request that might not have been anticipated by the Glossary's writers, such as asking a controller to call for a go around as a training exercise for a student or asking them to "forget" a turn on to a localizer or final approach to see how an instrument student handles the situation, and so on.

Sometimes the conversation falls well outside the glossary. We all have humorous stories about what we've heard or said over the years. I have a collection of my own verbal transgressions, some of which I intended to make, others, well, let's just say no one's perfect. One of my favorite examples was when I was returning to St. Louis after one particularly hot AirVenture five years ago. In fact, it stands out in my mind as being one of the hottest weeks I'd ever spent in Wisconsin, let alone at the show.

Celebrate Your Freedoms

A co-worker of mine has always been interested to see what it was like to fly an airplane.  A few days ago, I took him up for about an hour so he could have that experience.  As with any introductory flight, I ensured that the ride would be on a nice day with little or no turbulence.  We, of course, had a briefing beforehand covering the basics, including sterile cockpit, seat belt usage, what to do in an emergency, and so on.
What my friend hadn't expected was the part about exchanging controls.  When he expressed his surprise, I told him that it'd be a lot more fun for him if he got to actually fly the airplane - besides, I already know how to fly.

Do the Right Thing

There's a long-out-of-print book called The Conversion of Chaplain Cohen, by Herbert Tarr. It's about a young rabbi who is afraid to fly and finds himself in the U.S. Air Force, SAC specifically. It's a touching book that I think you'll enjoy if you can get your hands on it.

Summertime Flying

The summer solstice is net week, which means that, as the great Nat King Cole sang, "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" are upon us. Baseball, hot dogs, the beach, camping, all of the fun stuff we like to do in our spare time. For us as pilots and instructors, that means airshows, fly-ins, EAA AirVenture, $100 hamburgers, or just going up for a ride to look at the countryside. It also means we're likely to be busier now with clients, whether they're new pilots, pilots participating in the Wings program, flight reviews, new ratings, what-have-you.

I was reminded of this as I flew on an airliner from St. Louis to Omaha this week. Normally, this is pretty straightforward - take off from runway 12L at St. Louis Lambert, fly to Omaha, and land on 14R at Omaha Eppley. I've done it often enough that I know how the route is filed and how long it takes (48 minutes from takeoff to touchdown). Not this time, though. On this occasion, there was a vee-shaped line of thunderstorms with an apex near Des Moines that was also filling in. Our flight crew elected, wisely I think, to go all the way past Wichita and then make a turn to the right to come in on the back side of the weather that had already passed to the east of Omaha. Great ride, and everyone on the right side of our aircraft witnessed a light show, at the small price of an extra hour in the air.

Are You A Leader?

I recently had a great conversation with a good friend regarding leadership. What impressed me was that it wasn't the usual platitudes attempting to define what a good leader is, but instead contained a few of my friend's more down-to-earth observations. One, for example is: "Do you love your people enough to want to help them and help them grow?" The other was: "A good leader gives his followers small tasks at first, making those tasks incrementally more challenging and larger. This will cause your followers to grow and get better at their jobs, making them leaders as well." Finally, "A great leader is someone who will crawl through the mud to give someone a clean dish towel if they need it."

Flight instructors are leaders. By the very nature of the learning and instructor pilot relationship, it has to be that way. Even if it's two peers flying together, the moment one takes on the instructing role, the relationship shifts to one where the instructor is leading the way. That does not mean that there's anything necessarily overt happening or, perhaps worse and very artificially, the instructor saying, "I am your leader - follow." In fact being overt or obtuse like that will likely get a very negative response.

Learning From Non-Aviation Professionalism

I had to go to the dentist last week. Nothing special, just a routine checkup and cleaning. No problems were found. The reason I'm telling you about this isn't to complain about dentists or even routine medical appointments in general, because, on the face of it, this really doesn't have anything to do with NAFI or even aviation.

The reason I bring it up is because of the trust involved. I was allowing a dental hygienist, someone with sharp implements in her hands, to reach deep into my mouth. She also had a small hose in her hand with which she could easily soak or even drown me, if she so chose. At the same time, she trusted me not to reflexively bite her hands while she was flossing my teeth and doing all the other things necessary for good dental hygiene. Finally, when I did  mention a slight sensitivity in one of my molars, I allowed the doctor to reach in to my mouth with a small hammer to tap it (good news - there's nothing on the X-ray and the tap test only rang in my ear).

Feeling Proud, You Should Be Too

I'm taking a pretty amazing trip. Starting about 10 days ago, I traveled from Omaha to San Francisco to Honk Kong, then back to Omaha via San Francisco. As I write this, I'm in transit to Baltimore for the FAA sUAS symposium and plan to be back in Omaha by tomorrow evening.   The trip will total about 19,280 air miles over 14 days and 19 pilots will fly the jetliners.