Airline Pilot Case Study

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Stress is all about your body’s way of responding to any kind of threat or demand. When your body feel threatened, then your nervous system will responds by releasing a flood of stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline, which rouse the body for emergency action. Your heart will pound faster than before, your blood pressure start rises, your muscles become tighten, your breath becomes quickens and lastly your senses become more sharper. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, enhance your focus and speed your reaction time. “Flight or flight” or also known as mobilization stress response and your body’s way of protecting you.

When stress is within your comfort zone, this thing can help you stay

Chronic levels of stress can negatively impact one’s health, job performance and cognitive functioning. Being exposed to stress does not always negatively influence humans because it can motivate people to improve and help them adapt to a new environment. Unfortunate accidents start to occur when a pilot is under excessive stress, as it dramatically affects his or her physically, emotional and mental conditions. Stress “jeopardizes decision-making relevance and cognitive functioning and it is a prominent cause of pilot error. Being a pilot is considered a unique job that requires managing high workloads and good psychological and physical health. Unlike the other professional jobs, pilots are considered to be highly affected by stress levels. One study states that 70% of surgeons agreed that stress influences their performance. Pilots themselves realize how powerful stress can be, and yet many accidents and incidents continues to occurred such as Asiana Airlines Flight 214, American Airlines Flight 1420 and Polish Air Force

When stress kicks in, a pilot’s working memory is impaired. Stress either limits the amount of resources that can be accessed through working memory or the time which these sources can be accessed are inhibited. When a pilot feels stressed, he or she will notice an increase in heart rate, high pressure, muscle tensions, anxiety and fatigue. These physiological stress capacity and restraining cue sample.

Through a study research found that stress greatly affects flight performance including, smoothness and accuracy of landing, ability to multi-task and being ahead of the plane. Further research shows that under high stress, people are likely to make the same decision he or she has previously made, whether or not it led to a positive or a negative consequence before.

4.0 THE WAYS HOW TO MANAGE THE STRESS

Whether you’re trying to build your tolerance to stress or cope with its symptoms, you have much more control over stress than you might think. Unfortunately, many of us trying to deal with stress in ways that only compound problem. We drink too much to unwind at the end of a stressful day, fill up on comfort food, zone out in front of the TV for hours, use pills to relax, or lash out at other people. However there are many healthier and more effective ways to cope with stress and its