MONTVILLE, N.J., June 2, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Women, and JFK, Jr. fans in one instance, guessed it, but now comes the proof, says pilot and forensic engineer John F. Gambal. Women suspect that the issues men have with personal relationships also cause aviation crashes. JFK, Jr. fans suspect that the media jumped to the erroneous conclusion of "pilot error" within minutes after his disappearance and the hype caused NTSB investigators to go with the flow in their report of the crash.
Women hold 6 percent of pilots' licenses, but cause only 2 percent of the fatal crashes, a hugely significant statistical difference. For decades, NTSB statistics have show that "pilot error" caused 70% of the airline and general aviation fatal crashes. That is not enough to explain what went wrong -- the real problem is the repression of many emotions.
Support for the author's premise of repressed emotions is in a Johns Hopkins study. It shows that male pilot crashes are more often due to poor decision-making (an internal, emotionally driven process). In contrast, female pilot crashes are more often due to skill level (an external, practice, practice, practice method that is the FAA embraces). However, the FAA and the rest of us are not asking questions about why male pilots make so many ineffective decisions. Gambal demonstrates why correcting decision-making is very difficult and improving skills is very easy.
The author fascinates and informs with his examples and forensic evidence about how experts try to assess crashes to prevent other ones by mistakenly focusing on externals while ignoring internal issues. Paying more attention to the emotional factors that Gambal has intimate knowledge of will lead to accurate investigations and the reduction of fatal crashes. For instance, unrecognized, unacknowledged, or denied emotional factors caused NTSB investigators to ignore forensic evidence in the JFK, Jr. crash. The situation gave him a bum rap. Gambal shows that what really goes on in cockpits is enough to scare anyone away from flying again. He demonstrates how our biggest threat in the air is not terrorists but the ongoing denial of feelings.
The new concept presented will go a long way in eliminating problems. It focuses on personal-process or p-process, which is as unique as fingerprints and DNA. P-process is our emotional DNA. Recognizing and acknowledging a p-process factor that is creating or prolonging a problem, or its misdiagnosis, will go a long way in eliminating it; as we have begun to do by identifying DNA markers and connecting specific genes to a particular problem. There will be immeasurable benefits when p-process factors are brought to a conscious level. The percent of "pilot error" related crashes will go down. Personal relationships will improve. Divorces will decline. Children's education problems will diminish. The number of failed businesses will decrease. Productivity will increase without working additional hours. Religious wars will end. The list is endless.
About The Gambal Group and Author
John Gambal is a pilot, business owner, and forensic engineer-a job which involves evaluating failures of all kinds. He is president of The Gambal Group (http://www.gambal.com), a national consulting firm with three hundred affiliates who have solved more than $3 billion worth of problems on more than 5,000 assignments for mostly Fortune 500 companies. More about p-process is at the website. His other books are Future Masters of Business and Future Masters of Relationships.
Females Are the Safest Pilots -- By John F. Gambal
Publication Date: February 18, 2004
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