Figure 14-6. You should examine your decisions carefully to ensure that your choices have not been influenced by a hazardous attitude.
 a hazardous attitude, correctly label the thought, and then recall its antidote. [Figure 14-7]
Macho—Brenda often brags to her 

Taking
 

friends about her skills as a pilot and
chances is STRESS MANAGEMENT
wants to impress them with her abilities.
foolish.� Everyone is stressed to some degree all the time. A cer-
During her third solo flight she decides to � 

tain amount of stress is good since it keeps a person
take a friend for a helicopter ride.�
alert and prevents complacency. However, effects of
�
Anti-authority—In the air she thinks "It's
Follow the stress are cumulative and, if not coped with adequately,
great to be up here without an instructor
rules. They are they eventually add up to an intolerable burden.
criticizing everything I do. His do-it-by-the

usually right.�
 

� Performance generally increases with the onset of
book attitude takes all of the fun out of
flying."�

stress, peaks, and then begins to fall off rapidly as stress
�
levels exceed a person’s ability to cope. The ability to
Invulnerability—As she nears her friends 

It could
 

make effective decisions during flight can be impaired
farm, she remembers that it is about eight 

happen to me.�
 

� by stress. Factors, referred to as stressors, can increase
miles from the closest airport. She thinks,
"I'll land in the pasture behind the barn at

a pilot’s risk of error in the cockpit. [Figure 14-8]
Sarah's farm. It won't be dangerous at
all... the pasture is fenced and mowed
and no animals are in the way. It's no

There are several techniques to help manage the accu
more dangerous than landing at a
mulation of life stresses and prevent stress overload.
heliport."�
For example, including relaxation time in a busy sched
�
ule and maintaining a program of physical fitness can
Impulsivity—After a short look, Brenda 

Not so fast.
 

Think first.� help reduce stress levels. Learning to manage time pasture. Not realizing that she is landing
initiates an approach to her friend's
more effectively can help you avoid heavy pressures
with a tail wind, she makes a hard landing
imposed by getting behind schedule and not meeting
in the pasture and nearly hits the fence
deadlines. Take an assessment of yourself to determine
with the tail rotor before she gets the
helicopter stopped.�