Flight QF72: What happens when automation leaves pilots powerless?
What I found most interesting was how unnerved the pilot (a bone fide Top Gun graduate) became by his newfound sense of lack of control. It ruined flying for him and effectively ended his career.<p>I would have assumed that coming to terms with a lack of control was one of the first things a fighter pilot would have to learn to deal with. But maybe you can&#x27;t be a good fighter pilot unless you can fool yourself into thinking you&#x27;re always in control, and that lack of control is really just a personal failing (didn&#x27;t train hard enough, not thinking clearly enough, etc).<p>Or maybe with age you just lose the ability to handle that kind of stress. AFAIU the older you get the more likely you are to become overwhelmed by anxiety. Which seemed totally counterintuitive until I watched others get older--including myself--and saw how that works.<p>I guess that was sort of the plot to Top Gun, too. ;)