‘Back To The Cockpit’ Is A Support Group Formed To Help Pilots After An Accident

Every facet of aviation strives for safety and does everything possible to prevent and avoid accidents, but accidents do happen. Now, a group is being formed to help pilot survivors of accidents recover the confidence, and ability, to return to the cockpit. EAA recently approached this issue when they publish the story of an organization that calls itself, ‘Back To The Cockpit’.

Surviving an accident is often the beginning of a challenging time for a pilot. The FAA will investigate, the wreckage will have to be dealt with, insurance claims have to be filed, and everyone will want to know what happened. But the most challenging issue a pilot faces will be the self-doubt that has suddenly surfaced. The emotional toll can be heavy and the easiest thing for a pilot to do is simply walk away from flying.

Back To The Cockpit is being formed as a support group for accident pilots to help them return to flying. The group is being started by pilots who have successfully returned to the cockpit after serious accidents. Back To The Cockpit will provide resources and conversation to those pilots who may experience challenges in getting past the aftermath of an accident. The resources will include articles, first person stories by pilots who have returned to the cockpit, as well as a list of resources for those who wish to pursue this topic further.

On their website, Back To The Cockpit says that much of the post-accident emphasis has been to question the knowledge base of the accident pilot, improve his or her knowledge deficiencies and present that information to other pilots as examples to learn from. One relevant view can be that most pilots who have had accidents already had sufficient knowledge to have avoided them.  The reasons for failing to use this knowledge have also been examined, but often, the emotional and mental aftermath is not adequately addressed.

The organization is seeking to provide a safe and nonjudgmental forum for the target group to discuss their experiences and seek to help each other recover from the aftermath. A primary goal would be to focus on recovery emotionally and mentally, as opposed to focusing mainly on the cause of the accident.

Learning from a mistake comes naturally, but recovering from a mistake that causes an accident is a different matter. We at ANN will watch this endeavor with interest.

FMI: www.backtothecockpit.org