Navy pilots, that’s who.
There’s a great article in the New York Times today about simulation training for survival. Navy pilots are placed in controlled situations involving underwater, overturned aircrafts. And apparently they don’t like it so much:
“I hate it with a passion,” (Lt. Farley) said. “But if you are in a bad situation and have trained for it, then you revert to your training and what you know. It is why I am alive.”
Ah yes, the ol’ Modular Shallow Water Egress Trainer. I wouldn’t like it either. Go watch the video.
Like any type of preparation, you don’t do it because it’s fun (and I’m sure the pilots recognize that, though that doesn’t make it any less fun). Instead, it’s designed to improve performance in critical situations; in this case, performance involves saving lives.
Because of my research, I’m particularly interested in the quote “you revert to your training.” Does this mean in terms of quality or in terms of process? In my interviews, I have heard police officers say “you don’t rise to the competition, you fall to your level of training.” I have also heard wildland firefighters say “do what you know,” meaning that you’ll enact familiar processes when your critical thinking fails you.
Also, I’d be interested to know if they do this simulation in pairs or teams, or if that’s even necessary.
Commander Folga?
“No one plans for this kind of mishap. People don’t go to work one day expecting that they will have to eject. But it happens. And when it happens, they have to be ready.”
It’s nice to see coverage of emergency response simulations on the front page of a major newspaper, and it’s been a great topic of study for my dissertation so far.