Category Psychological

Fear of Flying – Part 1 of 3 (Dread)

22 May, 2013 · by · in Back Stories, Passengers, Personal, Psychological · 2 Comments

Fear of Flying – Part 1 of 3 (Dread)  – Version 5 – July 2017 About 25% of the travelling public have a fear of flying.   One quarter of this group are so afraid of flying that they completely avoid air travel, and their condition qualifies as a phobia.  (National Institute of Mental Health) […]

Giving Back – Canberra Grammar “Code Cadets”

30 March, 2013 · by · in Back Stories, Giving Back, Motivation, Personal, Psychological, QF32 Story · 1 Comment

See:  Code Cadets web page “Giving Back” I was honoured to be asked to present the QF32 story to the boys and parents at Canberra Grammar, Canberra, Australia in 2012. I fronted 700 soporific boys immediately after their lunch time break – which is the acid test for any teacher.   It’s hard to compress a […]

Book Review – “Good to Great” by Jim Collins

13 January, 2013 · by · in Leadership, Motivation, Psychological, Reviews · Leave a comment

I rarely publish book reviews for this is not my specialty and others do a better job of it than I do.   But today I find myself sitting in Frankfurt Airport having missed my connection to Toulouse by 5 minutes and now waiting for another 10 hours until my next flight.   I’ve been […]

Back Story QF32 p 159 – Startle Effect, Fight, Flight, Play Dead and Deliberate Practice

2 November, 2012 · by · in Back Stories, Psychological, Training · 9 Comments

Our reaction to stress and panic has evolved as a successful survival strategy. Imagine a panic situation such as a lion attacking us. Deep within our brains, sitting atop the brain stem, the limbic system is the first set of brain structures to comprehend and recognise the sight and the roar of the approaching lion […]

Back Story QF32 p 124 – Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger

10 October, 2012 · by · in Back Stories, Management, Psychological, QF32 Story, Reviews, Teamwork, Technical Crew · 5 Comments

I have just added one more memory to my list of life’s great experiences. I spent many hours yesterday with Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the captain of US Airways flight 1549 that successfully ditched in the Hudson in 2009 and the captain who saved the lives of 155 passengers and crew. Sully is a quiet […]

Post Traumatic Stress and PCM (QF32 p 311)

27 September, 2012 · by · in Back Stories, Personal, Psychological, QF32 Story · 5 Comments

The feedback I have received from QF32 readers has been profound. By far the greatest surprise I have had when reading the responses is to discover how many people are afflicted by their own version of Post Traumatic Stress (PTS). “The nightmares continue – every night” Many stalwart friends have contacted me to pass on […]

Back Story QF32 p 180 Nervous Fliers

8 September, 2012 · by · in Back Stories, Passengers, Personal, Psychological, Qantas · Leave a comment

Although many travelers hide their emotions, it is estimated that up to 25% of passengers are in fact nervous flyers. Doc Holiday quizzes Captain de Crespigny about this subject and how some of us can reduce our fear of flying and resume exciting and efficient lifestyles. Linda Emery I have just finished reading QF32 – a wonderful […]

Back-story QF32 p 340 – Chinese Symbol for the word ‘CRISIS’

1 August, 2012 · by · in Back Stories, Leadership, Management, Psychological, QF32 Story, Teamwork · Leave a comment

I received the following correspondence from Dr Derwyn and Carolyn Jones – passengers on QF32. In the spirit of the “glass being half full, not half empty”, I echo their thoughts and share them below: “When written in Chinese the word ‘crisis’ is composed of 2 characters. One represents ‘danger’ and the other represents ‘opportunity’. […]

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