The subconscious mind is constantly ticking over in the background.  Call it sixth sense, a “feeling”, intuition or something else, but it should be listened to.  Often our conscious mind is totally fixated on an immediate task or goal.  The subconscious is still free to roam. 

A pilot may be planning a cross country flight to get back home before work on Monday.  The weather is a bit marginal, but seems to be improving.  The “Get thereitis” bug has a firm hold and the flight begins.  But all the while there is a niggling doubt, stemming from the subconscious.  “Hang on.  What if the weather DOESN’T improve?  We’ll be over tiger country, maybe we’ll be socked in with no place to land.  Is getting to work on Monday worth the risk?”

A safe pilot having had this internal dialog would abandon the flight.  A potential statistic would press on and probably make it, but maybe not.

A few years ago a light twin left Brisbane for Swan Hill with a group of businessmen on board who HAD to get there for a dinner.  I happened to be on the ground at Temora that day and huddled inside as the purple squall line passed, with 50 knot gusts and hail.  The light twin flew into that wall and broke up. 

A developer was desperate to get to Mt. Hotham with his wife for an appointment.  His pilot didn’t want to go, as heavy snow was falling.  His employer insisted.  The result was three more air fatalities.

The subconscious has another, less well defined role to play.  Often the mind is taking in data without us knowing it.  The flight is going smoothly… still something doesn’t seem quite right.  The instruments all look OK, but there is a faint vibration every once in a while.  “Hey, there’s an airport, maybe I should have a good look at this bird.”  An inspection reveals a missing elevator hinge bolt.

Lest this seem fanciful, this was the exact scenario reported by flyer and writer Earnest K. Gann in his excellent book “Fate is the Hunter.”  (This book and others by Gann and Richard Bach are required reading for anyone who wants to be called a pilot.)

Gann was flying from Honolulu to Burbank, California in a DC 4 shortly after WWII.  The vibration was slight, and intermittent.  On landing, engineers found a quarter inch bolt missing from the elevator hinge.  Only massive luck prevented the elevator from “unporting” which would lead to a non-recoverable dive into the Pacific.   

In order to take in data, all the senses must be turned on.  In the early days of portable music, people were flying all over America listening to 8-track stereo and not their engines.  Now the gear is smaller (and better) but the pilot who can’t hear their aircraft because of a deafening blast of Metallica is losing a valuable safety tool.      

Of course, the subconscious mind is not infallible.  Anyone who has ever flown across Bass Strait, vast remote areas or at night knows about how an engine can develop some truly horrendous sounds.  At first the subconscious mind, always a worrier, picks them up and then the conscious mind follows.  In fact engines have a multitude of bangs, knocks and rumbles all the time.  But they can cause major concern if listened to intently.  This is a phenomenon called “Auto Rough” when flying over tiger country.

The subconscious mind gets more finely tuned as it gains experience over the years.  But even early on, “Common sense” is very valuable. 

So, listen to that little voice in your head.  It could save your life.